Since 2014, ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ has joined the Bachelor Nation universe, a spin-off of the popular shows ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette.’ Former contestants from both original shows are featured on the ABC reality TV series, where an unequal mix of women and men compete and search for their true love within the group. In the Rose Ceremony every week, the men or the women present roses to the participants with whom they have the strongest relationship. Individuals without a rose get eliminated then and there.
This pattern of the dating show brings along quite a lot of drama ensuing in misunderstandings and arguments, especially among couples. Some intrigue surrounds the couples who end up leaving the reality show together. One such pair was season 8’s Romeo Alexander and Kira Mengistu, who had an exciting journey before they exited together.
Romeo and Kira’s Story is One For The Books
The story of Romeo and Kira is fascinating because the reality personalities have been acquainted with each other since college. They graduated from Harvard University the same year and have been aware of each other since then. Kira is now a physician in Los Angeles, and Romeo is a Data Scientist in New York. They later recommunicated after they both appeared in reality shows – Romeo in Michelle Young’s ‘The Bachelorette’ season 18 and Kira in Clayton Echard’s ‘The Bachelor’ season 26.
Kira also added in an interview that before going into the show, she went out with Romeo once, and they made out, yet nothing happened after that. The physician admitted that she would be interested in connecting with him among a few other guys in the show. While Romeo came in with an open mind and began exploring his options, starting with Jill Chin, Kira made her first move on him. However, he chose to go forward with Jill instead of Kira, which prompted the latter to try her luck with Jacob Rapini.
Romeo then went through an exploring phase where he tried to connect with Brittany Galvin and Hailey Malles. He later gave his rose to Jill in the Rose Ceremony; she accepted it, hoping to keep searching for her connection. This led Kira to elimination, who could not make any connection that week. But things took a turn when she returned in week 3, hoping to rekindle her relationship with Jacob. Surprisingly, he had struck a bond with Jill by then and chose to explore his connection with her.
This left Kira with no option, so Romeo stepped in, asking her to give him a chance. The two ended up having an emotional discussion where the former spoke about her actions being misinterpreted. Just as Romeo was comforting Kira, admitting that he could have chosen her in the beginning too, she asked him, “Would you leave Paradise with me?” Taken aback, he took quite a long pause before finally answering that he would.
Romeo and Kira Couldn’t Make Things Work in The Real World
Although both Romeo and Kira were initially a bit tight-lipped about their connection, making fans believe they were simply getting to know one another on a deeper level, they had actually split. It was the latter who announced it to the world via her Instagram stories in December 2022, writing, “Romeo and I have gone our separate ways. Sometimes you shouldn’t give people a second chance to disappoint you.” She essentially implied their split was solely her ex-partner’s fault, yet he then responded with his own Instagram story: “Just when I thought I was out [face palm emoji]. Two sides to every story.”
It was then that a deep dive into their TikTok accounts showed that one of Romeo’s posts following his ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ stint hinted he might indeed be single but happy. Albeit, in a later post, he did thank fans for their support and admitted that leaving with Kira was a good decision for him since she was a “really awesome chick,” which is why nobody made the connection of their break-up at first. However, in the time to have passed, the published author now blissfully married to musician Caroline, with whom he recently even welcomed a daughter named Joséphine Simone Marie Alexander (June 26, 2024), implied he was pressured into his relationship with Kira.
Furthermore, Kira went for an interview with ‘Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation,’ where she opened up about her relationship with Romeo before filming the show. She said, “In the New York scene, I would visit a lot. I was living in Philly at the time, but I would visit New York a lot. I would hang out with him. He likes to have fun, and I like to have fun, so we would hang out together.” Nevertheless, today, it appears as if she too has moved on in every sense of the term. Based in Los Angeles, California, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill School of Medicine and Wharton School MBA graduate (2021) Kira is a public figure, all the while also serving as a Lead Physician/Site Medical Director for Los Angeles Jewish Health.
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