WARNING! This article contains spoilers for the Bachelor in Paradise season 9 finale!
Bachelor in Paradise season 9 star Brayden Bowers left the beaches of Mexico without making a lasting connection with anyone, but he’s now dating The Bachelor season 27’s Christina Mandrell. Brayden, a 25-year-old travel nurse from San Diego, got his start in Charity Lawson’s Bachelorette season. A polarizing contestant with his big personality and even bigger earrings, Brayden was at times portrayed as the villain of the season. However, his Bachelor in Paradise stint redeemed him to the point that even his fellow contestants who were his biggest critics are now his good friends.
According to a segment at the end of the Bachelor in Paradise season 9 finale, Brayden is now dating Christina, a 28-year-old content creator from Hendersonville, Tennessee, who was a contestant in Zach Shallcross’ Bachelor season. Christina is a single mom to her daughter, Blakely, who’ll turn 7 this month, and the niece of superstar country singer Barbara Mandrell. The show aired two clips of Christina and Brayden together. The first one was of them on a boat hugging, while Blakely giggled in the background as Christina asked if she’s videoing them. The second was of the three of them on the boat. The caption joked, “Brayden is teaching Christina’s daughter how to accessorize.”
Brayden Bowers Had Brush With Death After Bachelor In Paradise
The Bachelor in Paradise season 9 ending segment also revealed that Brayden and Aaron Schwartman had a close call after they wrapped filming on the show. A picture of the best friends was accompanied by a caption that read, “Aaron and Brayden almost died when their boat sank off the coast of San Diego, leaving them treading water until rescue arrived.” This harrowing ordeal could’ve ended in tragedy, but thankfully, Brayden and Aaron were saved.
Brayden and Christina were interesting contestants because they had such mixed reactions from fans. Some loved them, while others loved to hate them. However, because she was mostly a fan-favorite, there was a lot of speculation that Christina would join the cast of Bachelor in Paradise season 9. It was surprising when that didn’t happen, but she ended up finding love with someone from the beach anyway with Brayden. It probably was better for them that their relationship developed off-camera without the interference from the Bachelor in Paradise producers.
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Brayden’s connection with Christina is unexpected but also makes sense. She was portrayed as a villain during Zach’s season, just as Brayden was in Charity’s season. They probably found that they had a lot in common. Like Brayden, Christina vowed to learn from her mistakes, which really weren’t too terrible as compared with past Bachelor Nation villains. They both thought that they had the strongest connections with the leads, which led their fellow contestants to find them to be overconfident. They each clashed with the other contestants, but they have good hearts. Bachelor in Paradise‘s Brayden and Christina seem like the perfect match.
Source: Bachelor in Paradise/Instagram
