The Challenge star CT Tamburello has revealed what makes his relationship with Phaedra Parks work, two weeks after Parks confirmed they are dating.
Tamburello shared insight into their romance in an interview published by Us Weekly on Sept. 20, 2026. The couple first met in 2023 while filming season two of The Traitors, before making their red carpet debut at the 2026 Creative Primetime Emmys on Sept. 5.
"I'll say, I don't want to jinx it, but I'll say we're in a good place," Tamburello told Us Weekly. "With her, she just brings peace. It's easy to just stay calm around her."
The 46-year-old reality television veteran noted that their personalities balance one another well.
"I know I'm crazy in my own right," Tamburello quipped. "It's probably for the best if I'm not around her every day, to be honest. But she's amazing. She really is. The way I would describe it is like Paula Abdul, 'Opposites Attract.' You remember that old video? That's us."
Comparing their dynamic to Abdul and MC Skat Kat, Tamburello acknowledged that they will sometimes take two steps forward and two steps back. "Contrary to popular belief, I do learn," he playfully teased. "Maybe a slower learner, but I do learn, and some things are better left unsaid and I think oversharing can be a bad thing."
Although sparks are flying between Tamburello and 52-year-old Parks, he previously insisted their bond was strictly platonic. Addressing fan speculation, Tamburello told E! News at the time: "I think that's more wishful thinking. We had some laughs, we had some fun, but that's it."
Tamburello is father to 10-year-old son CT Tamburello Jr. with ex-wife Lilianet Solares, and split from estranged wife Catalina White in 2024. Speaking on The Challenge: Double Agents Declassified in December 2020, he discussed prioritizing his well-being, stating: "So now I'm coming in focused on myself, focused on work, focused on my son, focused on getting my head right, getting back in shape, taking my life back. The dad bod era is over. It is now a fatherly figure, alright? That's how we're doing it."
Selling Sunset and Bachelor Nation Romances
Tamburello and Parks are not the only pair whose romance blossomed from reality television. Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause began dating nonbinary musician G Flip following her splits from ex-husband Justin Hartley and co-star Jason Oppenheim, announcing the relationship during the show's season five reunion in May 2022.
"Their name is G Flip," Stause said on the episode. "They're nonbinary, so they go by they/them, and they are an extremely talented musician. And it started because I was just going to be in their video."
After meeting at a 2021 Halloween party, the pair officially began dating in 2022. G Flip told Vogue Australia: "We're both very secure in ourselves. Like, we don't have crazy insecurities that then can really complicate a relationship. We've just got the most healthy relationship I've ever had." The drummer, who also appeared on The Traitors, married Stause in a Las Vegas ceremony in May 2023, prompting Stause to post on Instagram: "Love doesn't always go as planned... Sometimes it's immeasurably better."
In Bachelor Nation, tennis teaching pro Joey Graziadei and junior project manager Kelsey Anderson fell in love and got engaged during his 2024 season of The Bachelor. Graziadei later won season 33 of Dancing With the Stars with Anderson supporting him in the ballroom. The couple has since moved in together, and Anderson told E! News in February 2025 that she envisions a "beautiful, timeless wedding."
Survivor All Stars and Jersey Shore Couples
Survivor stars Rob Mariano, known as Boston Rob, and Amber Mariano also built a lasting connection on camera. After competing separately on Survivor: Marquesas and Survivor: The Australian Outback, they met on Survivor: All Stars in 2004. Amber won the season while Rob finished as runner-up, proposing to her during the live finale.
The couple wed in a televised 2005 ceremony and later appeared together on Survivor: Winners at War, The Amazing Race, and Rob and Amber: Against the Odds. Rob, who also won Survivor: Redemption Island in 2011 and competed on The Traitors, shares four daughters with Amber: Lucia, Carina, Isabetta, and Adelina.
Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi met Jionni LaValle at a club in 2010. During a season three episode, Polizzi recalled: "I meet this little Mario brother. It was kind of like a last resort walking out of the club - 'OK, you're coming with me' - because I'm drunk and I just wanna hook up."
Two years later, the couple announced they were expecting and got engaged, welcoming son Lorenzo in August 2012 and daughter Giovanna in September 2014. They tied the knot in a Great Gatsby-themed wedding in November 2014, and welcomed son Angelo in May 2019. LaValle prefers staying off-camera and declined to appear on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
Vanderpump Rules and Bachelorette Relationships
Vanderpump Rules star Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd got engaged after six weeks of dating after meeting at a London club. Speaking on Stassi Schroeder's podcast Straight Up With Stassi in 2018, Vanderpump noted they married within three months of their engagement in 1982, as reported by Bravo's The Daily Dish.
The couple shares daughter Pandora, son Max, and several pets including dogs, swans, and ponies. Reflecting on their 16-year age difference, Vanderpump shared: "You know the greatest gift Ken Todd ever gave me? He was 16 years older than me and he met me halfway on everything. He never put me down, he never belittled me, he would take me to meetings and ask my opinion."
Trista Sutter and firefighter Ryan Sutter got engaged on the inaugural 2003 season of The Bachelorette and married in a televised ceremony that year. They raised children Maxwell and Blakesley in Colorado, while appearing on shows like Dancing With the Stars and Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars. Despite navigating health challenges including her 2017 seizure and his Lyme disease diagnosis, Trista told E! News in January 2025 that their key to success is "communication, it's trust, it's respect, it's common values, it's compatibility, all of the things." A brief separation in May 2024 was due to her filming Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.
Love Is Blind and Bachelor Success Stories
Content creator Lauren Speed and scientist Cameron Hamilton married on season one of Love Is Blind in Atlanta, which premiered in 2020. The couple has openly shared their journey, including launching a podcast and detailing their fertility struggles. On a 2024 episode of their podcast The Love Seat, Hamilton told Speed: "When I saw what you were going through, in terms of taking the medications, doing the daily shots, knowing that IVF and all this stuff wasn't really something that you naturally wanted to do but you did it for me, you showed me a new level of love that I'd never seen before."
Similarly, recruiter Tiffany Pennywell and Nike immersive design director Brett Brown exchanged vows on season four of Love Is Blind in Seattle in 2023. Residing in Portland, Oregon, Brown posted on Instagram: "Started in the pods, now we're here! We met in the most unexpected way imaginable but we wouldn't have had it any other way."
Bachelor alum Sean Lowe, a Kansas State University graduate, gave his final rose to graphic designer Catherine Giudici on his 2013 season, leading to a 2014 televised wedding. Now living in Texas with kids Samuel, Isaiah, and Mia, Lowe told E! News in 2024: "Every once in a while, we'll stop and say, 'Did we really meet each other on that show?' Because it doesn't seem real. It's such a kind of wacky way to meet your spouse, but that's how we met and here we are 10 years later. We've created this beautiful family and beautiful home, and we're just very grateful."
Below Deck, Married at First Sight, and The Hills
Below Deck: Mediterranean star Captain Sandy Yawn met singer and medical esthetician Leah Shafer after Shafer sent her a social media message in 2018. Shafer recalled on their 2022 YouTube show: "I saw her, and I thought, 'Wow, she's hot.' And I messaged her and just said, 'Congrats on your show, many blessings.'" After Yawn replied months later, they met in Los Angeles. Yawn proposed in September 2023, and they married eight months later in May 2024.
Nurse Jamie Otis met Doug Hehner on season one of Married at First Sight in 2014. After marrying at the altar, Hehner re-proposed 10 years later. They live in Texas with daughter Henley, son Hendrix, and twins Hawkins and Huxley, having also opened up about losing son Johnathan at 17 weeks.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt met at a club in 2006 before gaining reality TV fame on The Hills. Montag recalled in a 2016 Vice interview: "I pretty much told everyone I was going to marry him and that I loved him. [Everyone] thought I was crazy." The pair married, welcomed sons Gunner and Ryker, and appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, Marriage Boot Camp, and The Hills: New Beginnings. After losing their home in the January 2025 Los Angeles fires, Pratt promoted Montag's 2010 album Superficial, leading Montag to tell Billboard in February 2025: "For us to be able to feel people really come together and support us and our family, and to kind of burn off, literally, that shell and that stigma that we had for so many years, it's nice that people can finally see through that and see that there was always a love story."
Real Housewives and Teen Mom Relationships
The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss met production worker Todd Tucker during a 2011 trip to South Africa. Burruss shared in a 2016 Facebook post that a medicine man predicted her marriage to someone present on the trip. They wed in 2014 and welcomed son Ace and daughter Blaze, joining daughters Riley and Kaela. Tucker praised Burruss in a 2023 anniversary post, stating: "When you find the right person it's easy but you still have to put in work." The pair finalized their divorce in March 2026.
Teen Mom stars Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra began dating in seventh grade in 2005. In 2009, they placed daughter Carly for adoption with Brandon and Teresa Davis, a journey documented on 16 and Pregnant. After calling off a 2010 engagement, Baltierra proposed again in 2014. They welcomed daughter Novalee on Jan. 1, 2015, married in August 2015, and later welcomed daughters Vaeda in 2019 and Rya in 2021. Lowell told E! News in January 2025 that their relationship with Carly "needs to be adoptee-centered."
The Real Housewives of Orange County star Heather Dubrow and Botched doctor Terry Dubrow met on a blind date in 1996 and married in 1999. Raising children Nick, Max, Kat, and Ace, the couple sold their chateau for $55 million and supported each other after Terry suffered a transient ischemic attack in 2023. Heather celebrated their bond on Instagram in 2024, calling him "my rock, my cheerleader, my best friend, and the love of my life."
