Is it love or is it lust?

If that’s a question you’ve ever asked yourself when first meeting a potential romantic partner, you’re not alone.

It’s easy to get the two confused, especially in the early stages of dating.

So this week, the “Click Bait with Bachelor Nation” co-hosts Natasha Parker, Joe Amabile, and Tia Booth break down the differences between the two and how they knew whether they were truly in love.

Natasha started the conversation off by saying, “I know that there’s a difference between love and lust, but I can’t say I can always spot the difference when I meet someone.”

She shared that she read an article that explained that lust is more of just a physical attraction, whereas love comes with an attachment and infatuation that’s more than just the physical connection.

Natasha said that if you’re “going on long dates or talking on the phone for hours and hours without necessarily needing to hook up every time, that is a sign you might be falling in love with someone. Versus if you hit someone up at 2 a.m. and then you spend the whole weekend having a good old time, if you know what I’m saying.”

Natasha went on to ask both Tia and Joe how they knew they were in love with their significant others rather than just feeling lust.

Joe explained, “In the regular world, especially in the nightlife scene, I would tend to lead with lust. I think most people who like to go out and are trying to meet people, you end up leading with lust. But in ‘Paradise’ it’s different, because you are having conversations and you’re spending a lot of time with these people.”

He continued on, sharing, “So for me and Serena, I think it was a mixture of both, and that’s why we grew together as fast as we did. There was both that love and the lust there.”

Natasha chimed in and remembered an example of when she knew Serena and Joe were experiencing love, not just lust.

She remembered Serena being so worried about Joe when he was sick in “Paradise” and how she knew it was a sign she was in love. Natasha said if it was lust, Serena would’ve just gone about her day and circled back when he was feeling better.

And on the other hand, Tia shared that she actually felt lust first for her boyfriend before realizing she was in love.

Tia said, “In the very beginning, I was just sexually attracted to him. It was lust for sure. My brain has been focused on lust for the past several years because being in love is hard and scary. Lust is much easier because there’s no expectations. It helped that he was more interested in a real relationship than I was because it helped me go from lust to love. At first it was just lust. It took me a little bit to get to the love part.”

To hear more of Natasha, Joe, and Tia’s conversation on the “Click Bait with Bachelor Nation” podcast, check out the full episode below.