There’s no better place to look for love than Paris, right? Well, Caroline Renner, Josielyn Aguilera, Lacy Hartselle, and Rose Zilla-Ba are doing just that. The stars of Freeform’s new series Love Trip: Paris, which airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m., spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife about staying united on this journey.
“That was our only goal,” Caroline said. “Whether or not we found somebody, whether or not we walked out of there with the love of our lives or whatever it was, if we even got to that point, our only goal was what’s best for all of us is best for everybody. If we don’t support each other we have nothing. Our first loves were with each other, and that’s what continued us through the journey.”
Josielyn added, “Our hearts all became one. We all stood together as one… We were all really in it together. We all really looked out for each other.”
Lacy reflected on the bond that they formed as they went on parallel trips to find love. “We have this type of a bond that no one but the four of us will ever be able to understand, and it is such a gift,” she told HollywoodLife. “It does keep giving. We evolved together on the show. We watched each other navigate everything and experienced every emotion that you could imagine, and we really held each other strong. There was so much acceptance and love and respect and pride in the way that we view one another.”
Caroline got emotional about this “pivotal point” in her life. “To be able to watch that back, it’s like the gift that keeps on giving. The connections that we’ve made between the four of us is something that I’m never going to be able to express my complete gratitude for. This experience has touched my heart and my life so much,” she said through tears.
These four American girls have been unlucky in love in the United States, so they’ve moved to Paris to try and find their soulmates. Rose pointed out the biggest difference between the dating pool in Paris vs. the U.S.
“I think that culturally love is really important to the French. It’s really a culture of embracing that and beauty and romance is such a big thing,” she explained. “I think in the U.S. dating is much more casual, which is okay for some people. But the French really take things seriously almost to an extent we weren’t really expecting.”
As for how their journey to find love in Paris ends in the final chapter of Love Trip: Paris, Rose remained coy: “I think we all try living life with no regrets and this show is ourselves just put out there. I think, as an experience, it was an amazing and life-changing one.”
Each week the women will have to make tough decisions in “eviction” ceremonies. If there’s a suitor they have a connection with, the key to their lock won’t open. If they’re ready to move on, the suitor’s key will open the lock.
“Evictions were very emotional,” Lacy said. “To be honest, it was because everyone was amazing. Even if there were people that maybe you didn’t have a romantic connection with you cared about them and they cared about you. Their energy made a statement, and it was noticed when it was gone. Evictions were hard.”
Love Trip: Paris is groundbreaking television in that we’re watching Josielyn, a trans woman, find love on TV. “It means everything to me. I don’t think you understand how important this is for me, for the community, for the trans community,” she told HollywoodLife. “This is a big thing and a real big moment and I feel like I just want people to see that I’m just like any one of these other girls trying to figure out love and romance. I deserve love and respect, and so does everyone else, and so do other trans men and women out there. It’s so huge that we’re able to show this experience on TV and on Freeform and on this platform… I just want to be myself. I definitely feel like the biggest thing for me was that I felt like I was 100% myself with these girls. I felt like I was never judged. I felt like I could just be me. It was the best experience for me.”