Fans of The Bachelor will know that one of the franchise's success stories is Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert. The couple met on Bachelor in Paradise season two, and quickly became a serious couple on the show. At the end of the season, the two got engaged, had a Bachelor wedding in 2016, and now have a daughter together. Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert's body language through the years shows the highs and lows of their relationship. While the couple certainly shares their fair share of loved-up Instagrams together, they also were on the reality television show Marriage Boot Camp, chronicling the issues in their marriage soon after saying "I do."
I spoke with body language expert Patti Wood to get a better read on Tolbert and Roper's relationship. They've been together for a few years now, with much of their relationship playing out for the public eye. They were on reality TV, built a house from scratch together, and now have an adorable baby girl. But even though it has seemed like a fairytale, with many later contestants saying they want their own Roper and Tolbert happy ending, has it really been sunshines and daisies this whole time? I turned to Wood to analyze photos of the couple to find out.
Viewers saw the two's love story play out in Paradise back in 2015. Roper and Tolbert immediately became a couple, remaining one of the only pairs until the end.
"Notice how tense her shoulders are and how [they're] stiff and hunched forward, rather than the relaxed and rounded," Wood tells Elite Daily. "He’s not moving his whole body forward, just a slight head movement."
Wood says that the kiss "lacks sexual energy" but has a "playful energy."
At first glance, this moment between Roper and Tolbert seems too perfect. For starters, they're a ridiculously good-looking couple. Then there's the beach and the beautiful day. But, Wood says, there could be a bit of reluctance from Roper in this moment. She says Tolbert is completely "locked down" with his eye contact toward Jade.
"I also like that his upper body is leaning slightly toward her, so he’s very expectant," she says. "What’s interesting is her hand. Her eye contact is on the ring, which is interesting. The other hand is in a protective [manner] with the elbow tight to the side and her hand up like that. It’s a pushback or a stop motion. So there’s a part of her that’s scared and wants it to stop, even as she’s accepting it. What confirms that carefulness is that she’s not leaning forward. Her body is straight up and down and tense. There’s a part of her that was scared in this moment."
Roper and Tolbert had an elaborate televised wedding in winter 2016 that aired on ABC.
"Her smile is very genuine and warm, [but] there’s a little bit of tension in her smile," Wood says. "I like that she is leaning forward with her chest and the front of her body slightly resting to his to show she wants to be even closer than the formal photo pose they are set up in."
Wood references the way Roper's sitting on the bed in the clip from Marriage Boot Camp as childlike, as if she has "lost power." However, despite the hurtful comments that Tolbert threw Roper's way, they have seemingly moved on from their argument from this clip.
Wood loves this photo of Roper and Tolbert during their pregnancy.
"I see them genuinely connect to each other and happy," Wood says. She points out his wide stance, which could be read as embracing fatherhood and a more traditional vision of strength.
Wood mentions their bodies overlapping emphasizes how happy they are in this moment.
Wood says that in this photo of the two parents with their daughter, Roper has a close embrace around Emerson, and is slightly closed off from Tolbert. She says she'd be concerned if she didn't see the overlap of Tolbert's arm around Roper.
"Her posture is all about her child," Wood says. "Her legs are crossed at the ankle, her arms around [their] child, her heart is [closed] in and shaped around their child. Because of that overlap and because of the his relaxed posture and both of their smiles, it’s clear they’re both good."
Being one of the very few couples to survive this franchise and remain together, I know I'm rooting for them and hope they're happy.
