Bri Won More Than Just Money On Too Hot To Handle

Brianna Balram has been through it. The 26-year-old model’s time on Too Hot to Handle was marked by banishments and betrayals as she took the brunt of Season 6’s new Bad Lana twist. “Bad Lana loved me for some reason,” Bri jokes to Elite Daily. “She’s so toxic for that.” But at the end of the dating drama, the season’s winner took home $50,000... and also a boyfriend.

That’s right — Bri and Demari Davis are still together. “We are dating,” Bri confirms. “We communicate every day.” But it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing since the show ended. “When we came out of the villa, he flew me out to Phoenix. And when I got back, I realized we are in two really different spaces,” Bri says. “He was having a delayed reaction from the whole experience and everything just felt rushed and intense. So we did kind of dial it back a little bit. We didn’t speak for a while.”

After some time apart, Bri and Demari reignited their flame recently. “A couple months ago, he reached out to me and of course he missed me. Duh,” Bri says. “Ever since then, we’ve been communicating every day and putting in the work to learn about each other and build that friendship we had in the villa. Because when we were on the inside, we were like besties.”

They made it seem like he didn’t do that, but we all knew the reality.

Bri admits that watching back their hot-and-cold relationship has been difficult, but Netflix didn’t show all of their lowest moments. Bri recalls how her fight with Demari after he kissed Valentina Rueda Velez had an intense moment that wasn’t shown.

“He actually still got in my bed that night,” Bri says. “He was still in my bed trying to reconcile. I was like, ‘No. Why are you even here? You don’t deserve to be here.’ I put pillows in between us. I said, ‘Tomorrow, don’t bring yourself over here. You’re done.’ They made it seem like he didn’t do that, but we all knew the reality.”

Below, Bri details the “roller coaster” she’s been on with Demari, which breakup surprised her most, and the love lesson she took from her Too Hot to Handle experience.

Elite Daily: Were you surprised when you and Demari were declared the winners?

Bri Balram: Honestly, I was a little shocked because at some point I checked out. I didn’t even think I was in a competition. I was very grateful to even be in the finalists. But to win, it was crazy.

ED: What is your relationship with Demari like now?

BB: Our relationship is really good. Right now it’s in kind of a rocky spot, because seeing everything is different than just knowing about it. We’re having all these past emotions come up, we’re having new emotions — it’s like a roller coaster. But we’re really good.

If we didn’t have that moment ... we probably wouldn’t have won, to be honest.

ED: Do you think your relationship with Demari was portrayed accurately on the show?

BB: Demari is who he was on the show. He’s very shy, and when he’s not, he’s obviously not. It’s hard to watch, but it is very realistic. If we didn’t have that moment in the villa where we were at odds, our relationship probably wouldn’t have panned out how it did. We probably wouldn’t have won, to be honest. It didn’t have to happen that way, it could have been more respectful. But he did learn a lot from that.

ED: How surprised were you really when Demari kissed Valentina?

BB: She was laying it on pretty thick, I have to say. So, of course, he’s a man; he gave into it. Even though he did handle it terribly at first, he was instantly regretful. Demari does things without thinking sometimes, but he is very accountable once he realizes he was wrong.

It was really hard to watch back, but at the same time, I wasn’t kissing Demari. I didn’t want to jeopardize the prize fund or our relationship by making it too physical. So he saw that difference, how the physicality never outweighed the emotional aspect of our relationship.

ED: When Jalen came in, were you tempted to get physical with him either due to attraction or out of revenge to get back at Demari?

BB: Jalen really felt hand-picked for me — he reminded me so much of a guy I dated in college. So a little toxic part of me wanted to go backwards a bit. But at that point, I felt like me and Demari were at peace. I really wanted to make it out of the retreat with him and try to make it work. So I said no.

ED: Were you surprised when Joao broke up with Flavia so close to the end?

BB: I wanted to take his guitar and literally throw it in the ocean. I could not believe that. First of all, he eliminated himself from being a finalist. Like, what? And then through it all, those two were so together the whole show. Even though they broke a lot of rules, nobody expected that. I felt so, so sorry for Flavia, but she’s such a good sport. She took it like a champ.

ED: What about Katherine and Charlie? Can you see them working as a couple outside of the villa?

BB: I could definitely see them working in the real world. I know that Charlie wants to come to LA and explore things. I’m rooting for them. It was hard to watch Charlie do that to Lucy, especially because we had a whole plan for him to get Lucy back. But at the end of the day, I stand by going for what you want, and Katherine’s who he wanted.

ED: Who are you closest with, besides Demari?

BB: Charlie, Gianna, Sabrina, Lucy, and Chris. That’s really it.

ED: Would you ever do another reality show like this?

BB: I did have a great experience. If me and Demari don’t work out, I’d do something else. Would it be to find my perfect match? I don’t know!

ED: Do you have any regrets?

BB: No. Every decision I made was fully me. I really don’t like to think of things that I’ve done as a mistake or regret, because I look at everything in a way of growth. I’ve learned so much about myself, about other people, relationships, friendships, all of it.

ED: What was the main thing you learned from doing this show?

BB: I’m able to receive more love than I give out. I’ve always been that friend who [is] there for support; I just, like, give out a bunch of love. I’ve had a hard time letting other people get really close to me, but I learned that you don’t always have to have that wall up.

It is going to happen: You’re going to get your heart broken, you’re going to get your feelings hurt. And I learned to be OK with that. I’m OK with getting my feelings hurt now. I’m OK with not feeling 100% and not always giving 100%. I’m OK with being able to trust more.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.