While drama made the Kardashian family famous, none of their antics have been able to top that of middle daughter Khloé Kardashian and her relationship with basketballer Tristan Thompson.
Across their time together, Tristan was involved in three different cheating scandals, all which left fans with plenty to say about their relationship.
But after all the highs and lows of their relationship, Khloé still has some kind things to say about her ex, despite the chaos caused over the five years they’ve known each other.
We’re recapping it all from start to finish, so strap yourselves in, because just like Kim and Pete’s jaunt on that Los Angeles rollercoaster, this is one wild ride.
A whirlwind romance
Khloé and Tristan met when they were set up on a ‘blind date’ by friends in mid-2016, but after finding the concept a little daunting, Tristan just joined her for a group dinner one night, where they seemed to hit it off.
Fans of Khloé and her family were left questioning when she and Tristan left the same LA nightclub within minutes of each other, and a few weeks later, the pair were spotted holidaying in Mexico, dispelling any mystery that they’d struck up a romance.
Their first public appearance followed shortly after in Miami, and it wasn’t long before Khloé was confirming the relationship, and admitting to spending time in Cleveland in order to be closer to Tristan, who was playing basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers at the time.
“I actually really do [like being in Cleveland],” she told Jimmy Kimmel on his talk show.
“I like just having my routine and being a little more under the radar. It’s nice,” she admitted.
Around this time, Khloé began to post pictures of herself with her boyfriend on Instagram, seeming super-loved up as Christmas and New Year approached, which they spent together.
She shared a snap of herself and Tristan embracing at a New Year’s Eve party, writing “Happy New Year!!! May you always be surrounded by the love you are deserving of”.
“May Gods blessings continue to rain on us all!”
That sentiment would come across as pretty awkward in retrospect, but as 2017 began, Khloé and Tristan remained in a happy relationship, with the media beginning to press Khloé for news of an engagement or a family to come.
“I would love to have a family,” she said in May 2017.
“We’ve talked about it … I know for a fact that he would be an impeccable father,” she claimed.
She continued to sing Tristan’s praises as the year ticked by, and the pair grew closer.
“I’m in the best relationship I’ve ever been in, and it doesn’t take a ring for me to feel that way,” she told You magazine in August.
“My boyfriend is very protective of me. Feeling loved and validated and secure is a huge thing. Tristan is protective of my entire family, which is beautiful,” she explained.
And that family was only set to grow, with Khloé confirming in December of 2017 that she was pregnant with her and Tristan’s first baby.
Announcing her news on Instagram, Khloé called the pregnancy “her greatest dream realised”.
“Tristan, thank you for loving me the way that you do! Thank you for treating me like a Queen! Thank you for making me feel beautiful at all stages! Tristan, most of all, Thank you for making me a MOMMY!!!,” she also wrote.
“You have made this experience even more magical than I could have envisioned! I will never forget how wonderful you’ve been to me during this time! Thank you for making me so happy my love!”
Their strong bond remained as Khloé’s due date approached in early 2018.
However, things went awry very quickly.
The first cheating scandal
In April 2018, the Daily Mail released photos that showed Tristan appearing to kiss another woman in a club in New York City, when Khloé was nine months pregnant.
She gave birth to the couple’s daughter, True Thompson, on April 12, 2018, and remained silent on the scandal.
It wasn’t until the next season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians aired that fans became privy to her reaction, which was one of shock and distress as she prepared to deliver her baby. However, Tristan was still present at the birth.
“Regardless of what Tristan did to me, I was never going to take that moment away from True or Tristan. She should not be punished for his actions. He is her father and they both deserve to love one another as deeply as they can,” she said of the moment.
A few weeks after True’s birth, it came out that Tristan and Khloé had stayed together amid the cheating.
“You have no knowledge of what goes on in our household or the enormous rebuilding this takes to even coexist,” she told a fan on Twitter.
“I’m proud of my strength.”
The second cheating scandal
Tristan and Khloé separated in February of 2019 in the wake of more cheating rumours, as claims that Tristan kissed Khloé’s sister Kylie Jenner’s best friend, Jordyn Woods, something that Tristan eventually confirmed himself.
“He answered my questions and I got more details – that everybody left the party, and Jordyn stayed, that she was sitting in his lap, they were all over each other, they were handsy, they made out,” she said on KUWTK.
“It’s disgusting … I was just hoping for a better outcome for my daughter and myself,” she admitted.
Meanwhile, Jordyn, who had a different version of the story, was still ostracised by the Kardashian family. Khloé called out her behaviour on Twitter after Jordyn participated in an interview on Red Table Talk, the Facebook series helmed by Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Why are you lying @jordynwoods??” Khloé tweeted.
“If you’re going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGISE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story. BTW, You ARE the reason my family broke up!” she wrote.
A brief rekindling
While the whole ordeal was incredibly messy to start, and messy again when it played out on KUWTK a few months later, fans were at least relieved that this was the end of Khloé and Tristan. Right?
Wrong. The pair decided to move in together during the COVID-19 lockdown, so they could both be with True, a decision that led them to slowly rekindle their romance.
In June of 2020, Tristan wrote a loving birthday tribute to Khloé, sharing a photo of the two of them on a trampoline with True.
“I’m wise enough now to know, you came into my life to show me just what it means to be an incredible person. I appreciate how I am able to learn from and grow because of you,” he penned.
“I thank God for the beautiful and loving woman you are to everyone, especially out daughter True. You deserve the world Koko! True and I love you mama. Happy birthday.”
By August, their rekindled romance was confirmed by various sources. While they kept things lowkey, they both posted some family snaps on Halloween, and by Tristan’s birthday the following March, it seemed they were very much still together.
Sharing a few photos of herself, Tristan, and True, Khloé wished her partner a very happy 30th birthday.
“The ones that are meant to be are the ones who go through everything that is designed to tear them apart and they come out even stronger than they were before,” she wrote.
“Thank you for showing me everything you said you would. For the father you are. For the best friend I have in you. I’m thankful that I can do absolutely nothing with you and it feels like everything.
“I hope you know today and everyday how loved you are by me and so many.
“I can’t wait for all of the memories. This is where life just starts getting good!”
A third cheating scandal
While everything seemed pretty rosy, it came out just a few months later that the pair had reportedly split again – and another huge mess was just around the corner.
It came out towards the end of 2021 that Tristan had actually fathered a child while with Khloé, conceiving him with model Maralee Nichols in February of 2021, on his 30th birthday – which he had just celebrated with Khloé.
The matter became public when Maralee publicly filed a paternity suit against Tristan, who had to take a DNA test to discover that he was the father, which was confirmed in January, 2022.
Tristan took to Instagram with the confirmation, stating that he was looking forward to raising his son, Theo, “amicably” alongside Maralee.
He added another Instagram Story with a public apology to Khloé.
“Khloé, you don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you. You don’t deserve the way I have treated you over the years. My actions certainly have not lined up with the way I view you,” he wrote.
“I have the utmost respect and love for you. Regardless of what you may think. Again, I am so incredibly sorry.”
The scandal was discussed on The Kardashians, which was filming as it unfolded. Kim was the first member of the family to learn of the paternity suit, and reached out to her sisters and mother immediately. She had the unhappy task of delivering the news to Khloé.
While she’s been pretty forgiving in the past, we highly doubt they can rekindle their romance once more.
“I still think he’s a great guy, and he’s a great dad. He’s just not the guy for me,” she told ABC News while promoting The Kardashians.
“With Tristan, I did feel incredibly safe in the beginning, and I felt really good for a time,” she added.
Tristan did appear on The Kardashians, and it seems the two are currently dedicated friends and co-parents to four-year-old True.
Want a love story without the reality TV drama? Sign up for eHarmony today!
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
