'This year has been nothing sort of tragic': Reality TV star 'can barely eat' after death of family member

Brianna Balram, known as Bri, who starred on season 6 of sexy Netflix dating show Too Hot to Handle, has taken to Instagram to share that she’s had a “tragic” start to the new year as her grandmother has died.

The 27-year-old told her 232,000 followers that she has almost felt like “crashing out” due to the grief the death has caused her.

She wrote: “I have to be honest, the beginning of this year has been nothing short of tragic. If you’ve been keeping up with me then you KNOW that 2025 has did a couple numbers on my life already. And while I’ve been trying my best to hold it together while grieving my grandmothers death, every single day I almost feel like crashing out.”

She went on: “Some days I can barely get out of bed or eat, some days I feel numb… and some days I don’t want to talk to anyone. And I feel SO out of my element because normally I’m the one who is strong for everybody else.

The star, who is also a model, then paid tribute to her boyfriend, 28-year-old Demari Davis, who is also a model, whom she credited with helping her through the difficult time. The couple met when they were both contestants on the latest season of Too Hot to Handle, which aired in August 2024.

She wrote: “But in this time you know what I’ve also realized… beyond the support I receive from yall + my friends/family, every day I am loved by someone unconditionally. Even when I don’t want to be or when I am scared to be.

“Even with the arguments (yes we do have those). Even with the long distance. I have a partner who not only sees me as a human being but treats me with unconditional love and supports me through all the good and bad days (And trust me between these close crash outs and long distance, ive had some pretty ugly moments).

“Regardless, Ive lost a lot and its been hard but i know for a fact that i couldn’t imagine losing this kind of love. Thank you for being my strength. Counting down the days until we reunite @demaridavis4.”

Too Hot to Handle sees a group of singles who normally priortise the physical side of relationships put together in a sun-soaked villa where they are asked to abstain from all forms of physical contact. Instead, they must see if they can build genuine connections - all under the close eye of an AI cone called Lana.

There’s a $250,000 (around £202,000) prize fund up for grabs, but every time a contestant breaks a rule and engages in some form of physical connection - from kissing to sex - Lana removes some of the prize money from the pot.

At the end of the show, Lana awards the amount of money that is left to the contestants who are deemed to have made the most progress during their time in the villa. During season six, Balram and Davis, who became an official couple during their time on the show, were awarded the prize money - which ended up being $100,000 (around £80,000).

Davis lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, while Balram is from Atlanta, Georgia. It takes around nine hours to travel between their homes, and while the pair did separate for a brief amount of time after they left the Too Hot to Handle villa due to the distance they quickly reunited and have been going strong ever since.