Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell’s relationship was one that none of Us saw coming after his appearance on Bachelor in Paradise season 9.
“She actually DM’ed me! She slid in my DM’s and it was funny ’cause we started hitting it off,” Brayden revealed ahead of The Golden Wedding in January 2024. “We would FaceTime every night for, like, four [or] five hours, and one night we started talking and I made a Tenacious D reference … and this woman right here was like, ‘Did you make a reference to Tenacious D?’”
While Brayden was skeptical to discover that Christina knew about the band fronted by Jack Black, she used it to segue into making plans for their first date.
“She was like, ‘Well, I know I had tickets to this concert next week,’” Brayden recalled.
Brayden and Christina’s relationship continued to flourish before they went Instagram official in December 2023. Weeks later, Brayden proposed before moving to Christina’s Nashville hometown. (Christina lives in Tennessee with her daughter from a previous relationship, Blakely, while Brayden hails from California.)
Keep scrolling for Brayden and Christina’s complete relationship timeline:
Summer 2023
Fresh off his stint on Charity Lawson’s season 20 of The Bachelorette, Brayden hit the beach for Bachelor in Paradise. He briefly sparked romances with season 9 costars Kat Izzo and Rachel Recchia but left the show single.
After returning home, Brayden received a social media message from Christina and they started talking daily.
December 2023
The couple went public after the BiP season 9 finale aired during a “Where are they now?” segment.
“Now, Brayden is dating Christina from Zach’s season,” a title card read, referring to Christina’s brief tenure on Zach Shallcross’ season earlier that year. “Brayden is teaching Christina’s daughter how to accessorize.”
Brayden had made headlines on both The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise for his eccentric style, even telling Us in October 2023 that he brought 34 pairs of earrings to the beach.
January 2024
Christina revealed on New Year’s Day that Brayden was officially moving in, which they further discussed when they went to The Golden Wedding a week later.
“I have some surprises in store,” Christina quipped during the televised nuptials. “He doesn’t know about this yet, but there might be some lights and some music and rotating displays for [his] earrings at the house when we get there.”
At the wedding, Brayden, whose suit perfectly matched Christina’s green-and-tan dress, surprised her by popping the question on live TV.
“I just knew that there was something special, and there was something different, and then I got to spend time with you and got to spend time with Blakely … and introduce you to my family,” Brayden told his now-fiancée. “For the first time in my life, I feel like I found someone that I can be myself with unapologetically. And I have no doubts that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Bachelor host Jesse Palmer subsequently confirmed that the Golden Bachelor bride and groom, Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner, had approved of the engagement plan.
