The Bachelorette's Shawn Booth says his relationship with fiancee Kaitlyn Bristowe is solid as a rock three years after getting engaged on the show, and now he's revealing the secret to their success.
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"It's tough. I can understand why couples break up," Shawn candidly shared with Entertainment Tonight about the franchise's poor success rate of long-lasting relationships.
"If you're not strong enough to handle a lot of the outside noise and just the concept in general, it's very easy to call it quits."
The couple got engaged during The Bachelorette's eleventh-season finale, which aired in July 2015, after knowing each other for only two months.
Because Kaitlyn and Shawn have yet to set a wedding date, the legitimacy and sincerity of their romance is constantly scrutinized.
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"We've obviously had a lot of bad times, but a lot of good times. We've just stayed humble through it all, put each other first and worked on our relationship. But it's not easy," Shawn continued.
"We've learned to walk out of the room, because we'll go at it. Me and her are both kind of stubborn... but at the end of the day, we wake up still saying, 'I love you,' and it's onto the next day."
But Shawn and Kaitlyn are very happy together, and they hope future The Bachelor and The Bachelorette couples will find similar happy endings.
Shawn told ET that it's important for newly-engaged couples post-show to spend as much time together as possible. Once Season 11 of The Bachelorette wrapped, he and Kaitlyn were by each other's side "24/7."
After living together in Kaitlyn's Vancouver home for a few months in 2015, they headed down to Nashville, TN, where they have put down roots.
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"We just powered through everything and open communication [was a priority]," Shawn revealed. "We did our best, enjoyed life and just had a lot of fun."
And the fun never stopped; however, that's part of the reason why Kaitlyn and Shawn aren't rushing to tie the knot.
"We go back and forth [on wedding plans]. Eloping sounds awesome, [a] very small wedding with our family and friends sounds great, [a] big party sounds awesome," Booth admitted, clearly more confused than ever.
"We're taking our time. People always say it's crazy we're not married yet after three years, and I'm always like, 'Well, what's the average time frame when somebody meets somebody, to getting married?' We've been engaged for three years, but we've also known each other for three years."
Shawn also confessed the idea of welcoming children and more dogs into their little family excites them more than marriage.
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"Whatever happens, happens. There could be a little kid running around before a wedding ring. Who knows?" Shawn said.
As for their careers, Kaitlyn hosts her Off the Vine podcast and is launching a new scrunchie line while Shawn has a new fitness app and is opening a Boothcamp gym this upcoming weekend.
"It's tough, because you come out of that [Bachelor] world and you have this following, and you're like, 'What do I do? I don't want to go back to my normal job,'" Shawn admitted.
"I've just been working as hard as I could to build something... the best way I can share my love and passion for fitness is through this app, and I can help as many people as I want to now."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski