Khloe Kardashian Reveals Tristan Proposed Before Paternity Scandal: Why She Said No

Alyssa Norwin

September 29, 2022 12:01AM EDT

Khloe Kardashian turned down a proposal from Tristan Thompson nearly a year before his latest public cheating scandal.

A lot happened in Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson’s relationship that the public didn’t know about. In fact, he actually popped the question before cheating on her with Maralee Nichols in 2021! Kim Kardashian revealed the juicy tidbit, which Khloe confirmed, during the Sept. 29 episode of The Kardashians.

“I’ll never forget Tristan calling me and he was going to propose to her on Valentine’s Day, which was, like, a year since they had drama [with Jordyn Woods], so this was last Valentine’s Day,” Kim dished. “I called him the day after, like, ‘I never heard anything from Khloe, did you propose?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I did it in December.’ She didn’t even tell us!”

Tristan and Khloe out and about before their split. (SPW/SplashNews)

Khloe and Tristan broke up after he cheated on her with Jordyn in Jan. 2019. However, they began to reconcile during the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020, and slowly got back together in private. Still, Khloe had a reason for turning down Tristan’s proposal.

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PREMIUM EXCLUSIVE: Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson take daughter True to sister Kim's Paw Patrol premiere as rumors continue about them rekindling their romance. The on-off couple looked happy and relaxed as they joined members of the Kardashian clan for the private screening. Khloe and pro basketball player Tristan were first linked in 2016 when they were spotted spending time together at a nightclub, and they later took a vacation in Mexico. The two confirmed that they were dating that same year and remained very close through much of 2017. The reality television personality eventually confirmed that she was pregnant with the athlete's child that December through a post made to her Instagram account. Kardashian revealed that she was expecting a girl during an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that aired the following year. In 2018, it was reported that Thompson was spotted kissing multiple women in several locations, which surprised the clothing designer. That year, she gave birth to True, and the parents later reconciled following the child's birth. Although the two appeared to be going strong in their new roles as parents, the basketball player, just traded to the Sacramento Kings in California, was later caught cheating with several other women, and the two split up in February of 2019. The pair appeared to mend their relationship over the course of that year and were reportedly on good terms by the beginning of 2020. The parents quarantined together during the early stages of the pandemic, and their romance was eventually resumed last August. Earlier this year, it was reported that the couple was planning on expanding their family in the future, although no solid plans have been revealed as of yet. This past June, it was revealed that Kardashian and Thompson had separated, although they were said to still be on good terms at the time of their split. 12 Aug 2021 Pictured: Tristan Thompson, Khloe Kardashian and daughter True. Photo credit: MEGA Th

“I said, ‘I need to make sure this is a totally different relationship. I want to be proud to say I’m engaged to anyone,'” she revealed. “So that’s why I said, “I’m not comfortable accepting this right now. I’m not excited to tell my family.’ As hurtful as that probably was to hear for him, it was the truth. I’m not going to accept something and give someone false hope.”

Khloe and Tristan take their daughter True to dance. (Broadimage/Shutterstock)

Khloe and Tristan stayed together on and off after the proposal. By the fall of 2021, they were fully back together, and even made serious plans to expand their family. A surrogate was implanted with one of Tristan and Khloe’s embryos just ahead of Thanksgiving. It was only days later when Tristan’s paternity scandal was made public, and Khloe found out with the rest of the world that he had fathered a child with another woman. The court documents revealed that Tristan had known about this baby since July 2021 — the same time he was discussing a future with Khloe.

Khloe discussed how devastated she was by the timing of everything during The Kardashians premiere. This week, she added, “Going through what I went through with Tristan was incredibly hard. The hardest part was training yourself to unlove someone. This was my life for six years. We weren’t just a couple, we genuinely were best friends. He was my workout buddy. We did all these things together. So learning how to undo all those things take time. Just because someone does you dirty doesn’t mean you fall out of love with them instantly.”