Of all the women competing for Arie's heart on The Bachelor, one of the immediate stand-outs was Arkansas native Tia. Her gleeful and profane presence on the show showed Tia to be a very genuine person. Her chemistry with Arie proved to be electric, whether they were riding an airboat through the Everglades or if Tia was in need of some emotional support during an especially challenging wrestling competition. Now that Arie is meeting Tia's parents during The Bachelor hometowns, the question is whether or not Arie will be welcomed by the Arkansas family.
Of the four women that have made it to the end of Arie's season of The Bachelor, there may be no hometown visit more anticipated than Tia's. Viewers will finally get a good look at Tia's hometown of Weiner, Arkansas and there could be a cameo from Bachelor fan-favorite and Tia's BFF Raven. However, the most crucial part of the hometown visit is the Bachelor getting to meet the suitor's parents. Tia has shared a variety of images on Instagram of her family, showing them celebrating her medical degree, getting ready for a tractor ride, or just spending time together. Tia's family seems to be the type of loving, nuclear family often seen on The Bachelor, but just because Tia's family gets along with each other doesn't mean that her family will get along with Arie.
In a preview for the hometown episode of Arie's Bachelor season, there's a clip of Tia's father informing Arie that "If you hurt her ... I can find you." If Tia's family isn't warming up to Arie, that could be the thing that keeps Tia from making it to the finale. However, the clip also shows one of Becca K.'s relatives menacingly saying, "You're not gonna hurt my Becca," and Lauren B.'s father proclaiming "I'll f*cking kill him." Basically, if you're Arie, you are going to be threatened by your date's paternal figure during hometowns visits. If anything, it looks like Tia's father actually provided the least alarming warning of any parents during hometown visits.
Tia's father's desire to protect her isn't especially indicative of whether or not the hometown visit went well. Fans won't really get to learn about Tia's family until the hometown episode airs, and advertisements for The Bachelor are known for exaggerating the events of an episode. How many times has a "coming up next" portion of The Bachelor hinted that someone would go home only for them to get a rose at the end of the day? While the preview of Tia's parents being uncertain about Arie isn't the be-all-end-all of how Tia's hometown went, another Bachelor contestant may have revealed that things didn't go well for Tia.
In an interview with Bekah M., who may have some bad blood with Tia after her elimination, an interviewer for Access Hollywood revealed that Bekah M. "verbally kicked Tia's butt today" during a post-Women Tell All interview. While it's not confirmed if Tia will be present at the Women Tell All, the interview implies that Tia was present for the verbal kicking, which would probably mean that the hometown visit was her last episode as a possible suitor for Arie.
Fans won't know for sure until the hometown episode airs, but no matter what happens between Arie and Tia, it's clear (and understandable) that Tia's parents are interested in getting to know whoever their daughter is marrying. Tia's parents seem to understand that sometimes being supportive of your child sometimes means asking the hard questions. Even if things don't end up working out between Tia and Arie, her parents will be there for her following The Bachelor.
