In the latest episode of The Kardashians, Khloé’s ex Tristan Thompson got honest about feeling guilty over his numerous cheating scandals.
As fans will know, Khloé and Tristan have a super complicated history, with their on-again, off-again past relationship having repeatedly been dogged with rumors that he’d cheated on her.
Just days before Khloé gave birth to their first child, True, in April 2018, Tristan was pictured entering a hotel with a mystery woman who appeared to spend the night with him. Less than a year later, the NBA player got caught up in another huge scandal after he kissed Khloé’s then-close friend Jordyn Woods at a house party.
Khloé initially ended things with Tristan because of his infidelity, but she later ended up giving him another chance and rekindling their relationship — a pattern that occurred multiple times until they eventually ended things for good in 2021.
While Khloé and Tristan were secretly engaged and preparing to welcome their second child via surrogate, the athlete fathered another baby with personal trainer Maralee Nichols behind her back — something that the reality star learned about “with the rest of the world” when legal documents filed by Maralee surfaced online.
Maralee sued Tristan for child-related and pregnancy expenses, and three months after giving birth, she alleged that he’d made no effort to meet their son, Theo.
Khloé was left devastated when she found out about Tristan’s secret child. “I’m not sure that there is one thing that hurts more than the other,” she said. “Everything is an act of betrayal, everything is a lie, everything is manipulation. It’s deceit.”
In spite of how hurt she was, Khloé wound up explaining that she’s choosing to remain amicable with Tristan for the sake of their kids. Their second child, Tatum, was born last July, and Khloé has since repeatedly maintained that she and Tristan are strictly just friends and coparents.
But while there’s nothing romantic going on between Khloé and Tristan, he actually ended up temporarily moving into her home in January after his mother, Andrea, died of a sudden heart attack, and the roof of his house collapsed while under construction.
Khloé explained that she was letting Tristan and his younger brother Amari, who has severe epilepsy and requires 24 hour care, stay with her for a while until his home was sorted out.
“This is what family does,” she said. “This is the father of my kids. I lost my dad, and my dad was like a fairytale parent, but still I can't wrap my head around losing my mom, and I know how close Tristan and his mom are and it's just heartbreaking. And then to be left with the responsibility of another person as well. It's a lot.”
Well, in this week’s episode of The Kardashians, Khloé and Tristan have an incredibly honest conversation about their relationship and what it’s like living together.
Things start out with Tristan thanking Khloé for allowing him and Amari to live with her while his house is unavailable. In response, she jokes that he’s trying to stay for as long as possible to be around her and his kids.
As the pair go on to discuss their forthcoming plans, Tristan reveals that he’s set to speak on ESPN about his basketball career, prompting Khloé to warn him not to say anything “inappropriate” or “raunchy” on live TV.
In response, Tristan gets very candid about the way the culture of the sports world has “groomed” and shaped him over the years. “That’s the one thing I think is bad about sports,” he says. “We’re groomed to be so tough with a ‘fuck you’ mentality. We’re in a competition in a field of so many people — it’s like a dog-eat-dog world.”
“And it wasn’t really until I really had to look at myself... I never used to hold myself accountable,” he continues, before noting that he was encouraged to adopt a “bros over hoes” mentality.
“We’re taught, ‘Be the man. Do what you please. Bros over hoes.’ All these stupid words,” he says. “You gotta just be your own man and don’t care what people think, and don’t feel like you have to get validation from others.”
Tristan goes on to admit that he’s fearful his kids will grow to feel “embarrassed” that he’s their father as a result of his past actions. As well as 5-year-old True, 1-year-old Tatum, and 1-year-old Theo, Tristan is dad to 6-year-old Prince, whom he shares with his ex Jordan Craig.
“You know, True’s understanding stuff, Prince understands things,” he says. “They go to school and they have classmates… The last thing I want them to do is ever feel embarrassed that I’m their father.”
Tristan then shares that his mom’s death led him to reflect on why he’s “hurt people” he loves, before going on to address Khloé directly.
“The thing that always sticks in my mind is, I know how much I care about you, I know how much I love you. You’re my best friend,” he tells her.
“How come I meet my person... How come I’ve done so much wrong things? Why put you through that?” he questions.
In response, Khloé says in a confessional that it doesn’t faze her to hear Tristan say she’s his “person” because she’s heard it all before.
“Tristan has said before that I’m his person. I’m not saying I don’t believe him, but I’ve heard this and of course it’s angered me before, because I’m like, ‘Well if I fucking am, then why would you have treated me this way? And how many times?’” she says.
Khloé makes it clear that despite being a “hopeless romantic,” nothing will change how she feels about Tristan’s infidelity and paternity scandals, which she later called “traumatic.”
“I’m not justifying anything you’ve done,” she tells him. “I’m strong enough that it’s not gonna break me, God knows that. But also, Tristan, if what you say is true — if you really thought I was your person or whatever you just said — then that means you’ll feel this much more affected by losing me and wanna change for yourself. Not because there’s a prize at the end of it.”
