Breakups on reality TV are never easy. Kaitlin Tufts, 31, knows that first-hand now. During the August 2 episode of Temptation Island, Kaitlin’s longtime love Hall Toledano, 35, ended their engagement after nearly a decade together. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Kaitlin about her reaction to the brutal breakup.
“My first initial thought [in the moment] was that we’re leaving. He wants to be with me. He wants to get married. He was done with it, so I was completely blindsided,” Kaitlin said.
Kaitlin admitted that she was “shocked” Hall was allowed to come to see her and break up with her then versus at the end of the season. “Going into it I feel like there was so much reassurance in our relationship,” Kaitlin continued. “He was like, this is more about you, you, you, and you figure out your sh*t. I don’t know. I don’t want to be a hater on him or anything, but I just really didn’t believe anything like watching the video messages and stuff like that… I think he did what he had to do, but I’m grateful that they let him come see me.”
As Hall broke up with her, he confessed to Kaitlin that he never had a “real emotional connection” with her. “It hurt. It was bad,” Kaitlin said about how it felt to hear those words from Hall.
She continued, “I think he can be selfish, and he goes about it in a way of what he wants and what he feels, so some of what he’s saying I was just like, ‘I didn’t know you felt this way. How do you say this, especially on national television? You don’t even tell me?’ So a lot of things that he said definitely were not easy to hear.”
Kaitlin and Hall previously broke up at another point in their relationship. They reconciled, but this time their breakup was on the national stage. Hall also ended his engagement with Kaitlin to truly pursue a relationship with Makayla, one of the singles on the island. So, has Kaitlin forgiven Hall for what happened?
“I mean, obviously, you’ll have to tune into the rest of the season to see how it ends, but the first time when I took him back, it was not easy to forgive him. You’ll have to see what happens, but it took a lot to forgive. I don’t know if I could ever do it again,” she said. However, she did note that she’s “very happy with how things played out and where I’m at today.”
Despite everything, Kaitlin remained hopeful about the future after the breakup “I also felt like I came here for a reason. I should finish out my journey. Maybe I need to change focus and now look at these connections I’ve been making with these other people,” she told HollywoodLife.
She added, “I think everything happens for a reason. Not in a million years did I think anything would happen how it did, but I definitely have no regrets.” Temptation Island season 5 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on USA Network.