For Kady Krambeer and John Thurmond, Temptation Island turned out to be a much more serious introspection than they first expected.
Dating for three years after meeting on the dating app Bumble, the couple put their relationship to the test on the first season of the USA Network revival, separating for close to a month to see if they could withstand the attention of singles brought in for them to date.
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The couple told PopCulture.com ahead of Tuesday’s all-new episode that they first were introduced to Temptation Island by a casting call through Kady’s work—one they didn’t take very seriously until the final stages.
“Then all of a sudden, it was like, ‘Oh crap, John, do we really wanna do this?’” Kady told PopCulture.
The two decided to take the leap in the end, especially with their mismatched feelings about getting engaged at that point.
“I think I was getting a lot of pressure from Kady about marriage,” John explained, saying she felt like her “biological clock” was ticking, he was unsure about making a commitment due to his parents’ own divorce when he was in fifth grade.
Kady, meanwhile, was having her own private concerns. “Is this really the one the man I want to spend the rest of my life with and have children with and grow old with?” she confessed. “I still wasn’t able to get a really clear answer in my mind.”
Heading into the experience, Kady explained the couple was “the most solid we had ever been,” but she was a little nervous for her own ability to withstand temptation, as “John’s such a loyal guy and such a sweetheart.”
John meanwhile was “not so concerned” with his own temptation, explaining that as a personal trainer, “there’s beautiful women all over the place.”
One of the couple’s biggest problems, however, came to the forefront almost immediately, as Kady told one of the singles she was concerned about John’s masculinity, telling him she had always wanted a guy who was a little less “city” and a little more “manly.”
John admitted that she had prodded at him a little about that before, but in person “it’s one of those things I’ve always brushed off.”
“It’s another thing for her to be talking to one of the single guys on the show about whether I’m a man, if I’m going to be a good father,” he added, saying that scene “especially bothered” him watching back.
When asked about her criticism, Kady explained to PopCulture that she probably hadn’t chosen the best words to describe her concerns, saying she was more looking for “a soul for adventure” and “wanting to get outdoors and get your hands dirty.”
“You tend to focus on their flaws and what bugs you and not what’s great about them,” she added of being in a longterm relationship.
Being on Temptation Island, she confessed “It ended up being a much more real experience than I anticipated,” saying that it “changed her viewpoints on things.”
“My little bubble has been popped now,” she added.
John teased that his journey on the island taught himself a lot about himself as an individual and himself as part of a couple.
For Kady, “It was definitely a painful learning experience,” she admitted. “It takes a really strong person to go through this.”
Temptation Island airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on USA.
Photo credit: USA Network
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