This past summer, the spin-off series Bachelor in Paradise proved to be anything but a romantic getaway. Tears, emotional trials, and tension between past Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants during their turbulent search for a second chance at finding lasting love on television overwhelmed viewers by giving them a dramatic, jaw-dropping slice of paradise every week.

Set in Tulum, Mexico, 13 contestants arrived in the first episode, as opposed to 25 contestants and 1 bachelor or bachelorette. As soon as the contestants arrived, paradise heated up, and not from the Mexican sun.

As relationships blossomed and friendships formed, drama was bound to happen.  The show featured everything between contestants using vulgar language to describe each other on camera, adult women bashing one another for each one’s previous experiences on The Bachelor, and endless break-ups between the couples. As contestants were sent home every week and new paradise-seekers came along, the pressure of the objective to find a partner and stick with them, brought out everyone’s ugly side.

While the majority of the relationships failed, two couples have stayed together after the show’s filming concluded. From the beginning, Marcus and Lacy had an instant physical connection. As the show progressed, their emotional connection grew as well. At the end of the season finale, Marcus proposed to Lacy.

Despite the excessive drama and broken hearts, the few successful relationships that formed seemed to be enough to keep the show on air for a while longer, as ABC renewed Bachelor in Paradise for a second season on September 8.  To the delight of the viewers, it looks as if the theme of the show, YOPO (you only paradise once), is no longer true after all.

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Nicole Williams | Editor-in-Chief
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