Warning: This post contains spoilers for “The Ultimatum: Queer Love” finale and reunion.
“The Ultimatum: Queer Love” stars Mildred Woody and Tiff Der had one of the most tumultuous relationships of the season.
During Episode One, viewers met Mildred, a 33-year-old single mom who issued an ultimatum to Tiff, 32. The couple started dating after Tiff came across Mildred’s photo on Instagram. A single DM kicked off a two-year relationship.
“If she wants to keep this spice in her life, she needs to put a ring on it,” Mildred told the cameras. She said she needed an answer by the end of the experiment, but Tiff had some reservations. Tiff mentioned the couple constantly breaking up and getting back together as one of the reasons they were skeptical about a long term commitment.
When it was time to choose a temporary spouse for the three-week trial marriages, Tiff seemed to suddenly change their mind and announced they wanted to focus on Mildred. But Mildred wanted to continue the experiment, so she and Tiff swapped partners with Aussie Chau and Sam Mark, respectively.
The trial marriages made it clear the couples' original pairings were much stronger than the new ones.
Although their relationship was contentious at times, Tiff proposed to Mildred in the finale and she said “yes.” However, like some of the other couples, Tiff and Mildred called it quits after the season ended. During the reunion, they revealed their split — and a shocking arrest —as they argued over the demise of their relationship.
Read below for a recap of Mildred and Tiff’s rocky journey on “The Ultimatum: Queer Love.”
What happened on decision day for Tiff and Mildred?
In Episode Nine, Tiff and Mildred had an honest and emotional conversation about the power dynamics in their relationship. Mildred explained how much she loved Tiff, adding that she spent two years waiting for Tiff to reciprocate her love.
“I’m afraid that you might not love me unconditionally,” Mildred shared. Tiff assured Mildred that their love was genuine.
“It’s easy to fall in love with your smile, your laugh, your eyes,” Tiff gushed. “It’s more difficult to wrap my mind around our crazy, up-and-down, intense, deep connection that you and I share. But, it’s impossible to not love you through it all. Until my very last breath.”
After the heartfelt speech, Tiff popped the question and Mildred said “Yes!”
What happened at the reunion?
Their loving moment was soured when the reality television stars tensely confirmed during the reunion that their engagement ended.
Their heated retelling of how things fell apart began when host JoAnna Garcia Swisher jokingly asked about Tiff’s disagreement with Sam over Shylo, Tiff’s dog, sleeping on the bed.
Tiff shared that Shylo recently had “emergency surgery” before Mildred chimed in and asked for the exact days of the dog’s operation.
After the rest of the cast exchanged a few confused glances, Mildred explained why the dates were important to her.
“On Christmas Eve, my sister and my family received messages and phone calls from Tiff that Shylo was not gonna make it,” Mildred recalled.
When Tiff attempted to interject, Mildred said, “I’m speaking right now.”
Mildred disapproved of Tiff contacting her family, calling the communication “intrusive.”
“We’re not on speaking terms. You’re not allowed in my life anymore, so…” Mildred continued.
Garcia Swisher jumped in and asked the former fianceés to break down what went wrong since everyone last saw them.
“We got engaged,” Mildred said. “Then we decided to move in together, but there was no plans for the future. We can never talk about a wedding. There wasn’t anything that I could see in the future with Tiff.”
She did not understand why they went on the show when their relationship never progressed.
“It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve ever made, ever, to leave Tiff,” Mildred said.
Tiff pushed back, saying they were “a little confused” by the details Mildred shared.
“How were you the one that left?” Tiff asked. “The stuff that we went through post-show was happening on show. I just feel like we had an overall unhealthy relationship that was trying our best. That’s the way I saw it.”
Mildred questioned Tiff, calling her ex “very immature emotionally” and alleging she was “financially taken advantage of.”
Digging deeper into their financial situation, Mildred revealed Tiff asked her to split their rent three ways to account for Mildred’s teenage son. Tiff clarified that they inquired about rent because they are “a little naive.”
Why was Mildred arrested?
During the most explosive moment from the reunion, Mildred shared she was arrested after an argument with Tiff.
While tearing up, Mildred explained, “I threw a picture frame and I broke it and the glass shattered everywhere. And I threw a pet gate at (Tiff) and it was really heavy. At the same time, I was grabbing all of (their) clothes from the closet and throwing them down the stairs because I really wanted (their) to leave my home.”
Mildred said Tiff called the police. The authorities arrested Mildred and removed her engagement ring.
“And I never put it back on,” Mildred said. “I’m not proud of what I did, but there was a lot of fighting.” She also claimed Tiff labeled her as a “trash mom” and “degraded (her).”
Tiff acknowledged there was a disconnect between her and Mildred’s child but refuted some of Mildred’s story, like that she brought other women to their home.
Growing more frustrated, Tiff said Mildred was “gaslighting” her and left the set in tears.
Aussie, who frequently walked away from Mildred during their trial marriage's arguments, offered some insight. “Just Tiff saying the word ‘gaslighting,’ it just brought back a lot of my experience with Mildred,” Aussie shared.
Sam defended Tiff, her trial spouse, as well. “I just feel like Tiff was put on blast right now because there was all the blame put on one person and it didn’t feel right to me,” Sam said.
Outside, Tiff sobbed and said the conversation with Mildred had her “questioning my f—ing reality.”
“I’m literally being like gaslit,” Tiff said. “I have no problem admitting where I went wrong but I will speak up on some things that did not happen.”
Sam comforted Tiff outside the set and said the harsh interaction was a sign to let the relationship go.
“What’s honestly best for me is to never see her f—ing face again. It’s that simple. I want to move on, in that sense,” Tiff said. Tiff refused to rejoin the cast and left the reunion early.
Mildred, who was supported by Yoly Rojas, gave the final word on their confrontation.
“It’s just been really hard to just rebuild everything but I’m doing really good,” she said. “And I’m not happy I don’t have Tiff because, obviously, it’s a loss. But I’m happy that I’m happy, genuinely.”
She said she looks forward to putting the relationship behind her and dating again.
Ariana Brockington
Ariana Brockington is a trending news reporter at TODAY digital. She is based in Los Angeles.
