Too Hot to Handle's Katherine and Charlie on Their 'Magical' Connection and If Their Spark Stayed Alive (Exclusive)

Warning: This story contains spoilers from the Too Hot to Handle season 6 finale.

Too Hot to Handle fans were likely shocked to see Charlie Jeer and Katherine LaPrell in the final two after their wild journey on the show – but the two are continuing to show growth in the months since filming wrapped.

After the season 6 finale dropped on Netflix on Friday, Aug. 2, fans learned that Katherine and Charlie were named as the runners-up, coming in second place to winning couple Bri Balram and DeMari Davis.

Despite not winning the title and $150,000 grand prize, Charlie and Katherine tell PEOPLE they walked away from the show with something better: a solid relationship.

"Looking back on it, the actual transformation that I went through during that process and I saw Katherine go through was incredible," Charlie says. "[When I] walked in, I wasn't even looking for a relationship. I actually wasn't open to one whatsoever... And so, it's like you get Yin and Yang and put them together and you have this beautiful relationship that we've created."

"What matters to me is the relationship I'm in," he continues. "And if you actually look at what the show's about, we won. I feel that way genuinely when I'm with Katherine."

Adds Katherine: "After the show, he would just reassure his feelings for me every day. We spoke to each other every day. There were no doubts that I had with him turning his head because of the way that he would tell me that he felt about me. There's so much trust in our relationship. I'm not an insecure person at all, but I know that I trust him one hundred percent with my whole heart and he would never do anything to hurt me. And I wouldn't do the same to him either."

Katherine and Charlie seemed like an unlikely duo to place second after their early experiences in the villa. Though they had an initial spark, they opted to pursue connections with other people — Charlie with Lucy Syed and Katherine with late addition and season 5 alum, Louis Russell.

Eventually, Katherine realized her connection with Louis was purely physical, and after an impactful workshop in which Charlie and Katherine were paired up and forced to be vulnerable with each other, the two realized the spark was still there.

"It was crazy. I'm so happy that they caught that moment, because even watching it back, it was actually so magical," Katherine tells PEOPLE of the fateful workshop. "I don't know if everybody else could tell how magical it is, because I just remember being there and I was just like, 'Oh, crap. I actually do like this guy.'"

Adds Charlie: "That moment when me and Kat were looking into each other's eyes. Genuinely, it is the most connected I've ever felt to anyone in my life. Having that moment was really special."

The duo ended things with Lucy and Louis and then paired up, remaining together through the rest of the show. They even stayed together after both were tempted by new arrivals Cristian Lager and Sabrina Zima, and amid concerns about Charlie's wandering eyes.

"Don't get me wrong, Louis is such a great guy. He's an amazing friend and stuff, great personality," Katherine tells PEOPLE of ending things with Louis. "But I just had to do what was best for me. I was really trying to take it seriously and be honest with myself. I want that deeper connection."

"With Charlie, I saw him and Lucy, I saw the way he would be with Lucy, and that was something that I was definitely attracted to, but I wasn't trying to steal anyone's man or anything," she continues. "I was just kind of like, if he wanted to come to me, I was going to let that happen. And then, that's what happened, so I was like, 'Okay, I'm ready.'"

Asked if they regret pursuing other partners first, Charlie and Katherine answer with a resounding no.

"Regret is such a dangerous word when you are happy where you are in life. Because had I done that, who knows what would've happened?" Charlie says. "The most important thing is that I'm happy where I am right now, she's happy where she is right now. And because of that, you actually can't regret anything in your past. All you can do is look back at it, grow from it, and look to implement things that you've learned in your future."

Adds Katherine: "Yeah and it wouldn't make the story as beautiful as it is if I had any regrets or wanted to change anything that happened before."

Once filming ended, Katherine and Charlie say they met up on the outside to ensure their relationship was still as important to them as it was inside the villa.

"I really wanted to make sure that whilst I was in there, I didn't rush anything or make anything happen too quickly. And I think that is one reason why we have been so solid together," Charlie explains. "Because I didn't want to ask her to be my girlfriend on the show or tell her I loved her on the show, even though I kind of knew it and felt it. I wanted to give us a chance on the outside."

"The only way for me to do that was to let us go our separate ways at the end of it, meet up in real life, and see what the actual connection was," he notes. "And ultimately, I went and met her in real life, I was so nervous. I flew over to L.A. not too long ago."

Recalling their first time meeting up outside of the retreat, which Katherine was also "nervous" for, she adds: "It was weird because we both had clothes on. Seeing each other every day in bathing suits and then seeing each other with clothes on, it definitely made it funny. But it's like, 'Okay, is this actually going to work?' But then, I realized, 'Oh, yeah. No, I love this man. I want to make it work.'"

Eventually, Charlie told Katherine he loved her — and asked her to be his girlfriend on Feb. 15, 2024. Today, the two have met each other's families and continue to balance a long-distance relationship, with Katherine based in Los Angeles and Charlie in the United Kingdom.

"I think it's important that you both really want it," Charlie says. "I knew leaving the retreat that I really wanted to make it work with Kat. And if you don't really make something work with someone, it's not going to work."

"And I knew that the way that me and Kat started things, it was very genuine, and it came all from a good place," he continues. "Katherine really lets me be myself and I really let her be herself, and it is such a healthy relationship to the point where I feel like we're not two people who are sat facing each other. We're two people who sit next to each other looking in the same direction. And that is genuinely all I could ask for from a relationship."

Noting that it's been difficult to revisit their missteps on the show, Charlie also emphasizes: "As it is hard to go back and relive all this stuff, I made Katherine the priority in my life after the show. And I wanted to really build my real life relationship with her to the point where I felt really confident, comfortable, and secure in it... we got to know each other all over again in real life. And that was how I wanted to go about it because I knew that she was a special person."

"To do that with Kat is something that motivated me to actually take it seriously, because I started with the intentions I wanted to finish it with. And now I'm so grateful for what I have with Kat," he adds.

Says Katherine: "Charlie's always made me feel super safe too, and made it known that it's okay for me to show emotions and express it to him, which is something that I struggled with throughout the show ... So that's what I was thankful for, and just wanting to continue that, because I just felt safe with him. It was really important to me. So lucky to have that."

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Too Hot to Handle season 6 is now streaming on Netflix.