Jade Roper Tolbert talks embracing motherhood during life after ‘Bachelor in Paradise’

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It’s been six years since Jade Roper Tolbert met her future husband, Tanner Tolbert, on the second season of Bachelor in Paradise. In those six years, the fan-favorite couple has gotten married and had three children together.

On this week’s episode of In The Know’s pop culture interview series We Should Talk, Jade opened up about life beyond the show and all that the show’s platform has afforded her, including the start of her five-person family, admitting that she’s open to a fourth child. She also opened up about life with 7-month-old Reed and curating the My First Love Collection with Carter’s (a list of her essential products for a baby’s first year) in addition to sharing her thoughts on Chris Harrison’s exit from Bachelor Nation, her thoughts on Katie Thurston’s current season of The Bachelorette and more.

“I definitely do think it’s the end of a certain era with the show, but the show has been changing. Like with everything else, I feel like we should welcome the change. I do think that Kaitlyn and Tayshia are doing a great job,” Jade said of Harrison’s exit. “I don’t know what the future is of the hosting — if they’re going to continue with the girls or if they’re going to each season bring on someone new or try to find a permanent host, whatever it may be — but they’ll figure it out.”

Listen to Bachelor alum Jade Roper Tolbert’s full episode of We Should Talk below, and keep reading for highlights from the interview:

Jade Roper Tolbert on potentially having a fourth child: “I’m sure you read that my husband’s like, ‘I’m going to Vegas with my friends and getting a vasectomy.’ Apparently, there are vasectomy parties, where guys will go and get vasectomies together. I guess it’s a thing. I still in my heart feel like there’s a fourth baby out there. My body needs a break. But I still just imagine having a fourth. (…) It’s like the buddy system. They’re always going to have a little friend and can pair up. I like the idea of four.”

Jade Roper Tolbert on Chris Harrison’s exit from Bachelor Nation: “I definitely do think it’s the end of a certain era with the show, but the show has been changing. Like with everything else, I feel like we should welcome the change. I do think that Kaitlyn and Tayshia are doing a great job. I don’t know what the future is of the hosting — if they’re going to continue with the girls or if they’re going to each season bring on someone new or try to find a permanent host, whatever it may be — but they’ll figure it out.”

Jade Roper Tolbert on Katie Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette and the decision to air two back-to-back seasons of the show for the first time: “I’m having fun watching it. I like her! I feel like she is so sweet, and she’s doing a really great job, especially because there’s so much pressure this season with all of the changes and the drama outside of the show. I feel like she’s doing really great. I like her guys; I feel like she’s got quite a few connections. (…) I like [the decision to do two seasons of The Bachelorette in a row]. I like the show, and I want to see more diverse love stories. I love that they’re doing two, and I love that it’s two very strong female leads. I would’ve loved to have seen Abigail too, because I’d love to see more inclusive, more diverse love stories, because that’s what the world has.”

Jade Roper Tolbert on life with three kids: “[Reed] just turned seven months, believe it or not. It feels like I just had him yesterday. With a third, it’s gone so fast. It’s so sad, almost, because I feel like it’s been such a fog and such a blur, and he’s just so big. My daughter, Emerson, is almost four, and she is so helpful, and she is so sweet. She’s kind of like a little second momma. She talks to him, I feel like, how I talk to Reed. She pays close attention to what I say. My son, Brooks — he and Reed are only 15-and-a-half months apart, so he was pretty much a baby when Reed was born, too. I don’t feel like he realizes what life was like before Reed anymore. He still gets a little jealous sometimes, but you can tell that they’re really starting to connect, especially now that Reed is less of a potato. [Laughs] Little babies just lay there!”

Jade Roper Tolbert on appreciating and staying connected to Bachelor Nation: “It’ll always have a special meaning to us, and we’ll always watch it as it’s on because we are so connected. I have so many great relationships, so many great friends from the show. Tanner and I are both so close to Ashley and Jared, I’m best friends with Carly and I [just] have lots of friends. Arie and Lauren just had their twins, and I love keeping up with everyone else from the show’s lives, too. I’m almost like a fan watching the rest of everyone who’s been there. But I also know what it’s like to be on the show, so as much as there’s all this drama and all this stuff, I really have a soft spot for the show. (…) I wouldn’t have my family without the show. I wouldn’t! It’s something that I’ll always be grateful for. As a fan, I still love to watch the drama. I like to be entertained! They always bring the drama.”

Jade Roper Tolbert on finding love on Bachelor in Paradise and life since the show:Bachelor in Paradise is filming right now, and that was six years ago for us. It feels unreal because it feels like just yesterday, but so much of our life has changed. We were on the fast track! We were engaged on the show, got married I want to say six, seven months later, and now we have three kids. It’s just been crazy. (…) It definitely is a social experiment little bubble, but Bachelor in Paradise really worked for Tanner and myself, because we got so much time to just tune out the rest of the world, all of our obligations, all of our stressors, and just focus on getting to know somebody, and we had instant chemistry. It just really worked for us, and then we got into the outside world. We kind of had to — I call it ‘re-fall in love with each other’ — we knew we loved each other, but then we were like, ‘We do have all of these realities in our lives, and we have to see if they work together. We have to see if our families work together.’ I do think the process of the show works, and I guess we are kind of a living testament to that. We are normal people, we do have a normal relationship — we’re not perfect by any means — but it is kind of a unique thing that we were able to make it work against the odds.”

Watch In The Know’s full interview with Jade Roper Tolbert below:

If you enjoyed this story, check out In The Know’s recent interview with former Bachelorette Tayshia Adams.

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