Nicole Moschella
“Bachelor In Paradise” was back for round two on Tuesday night!
Videos by Rare
After leaving everyone hanging on Monday night’s premiere, ABC decided to draw out the suspense by devoting nearly all of Tuesday’s first hour to the wedding of former castmates Carly Waddell and Evan Bass. But in true “BIP” fashion, no wedding can go on without a montage of past “Bachelor”/”Bachelorette” weddings, from the first, Trista and Ryan Sutter in 2003, all the way up to the most recent, Jade and Tanner Roper.
To me, this really felt like ABC’s way of saying, “Look, sometimes this really does work out!”
Back to Evan and Carly. I’ll admit, when he cried she walked down the aisle, I got a little misty-eyed. Hey, I’m a bride-to-be, sue me. The vows were beautiful, Chris Harrison was a hell of an officiant, and the traditional shaman’s blessing over the couple was sweet. Mozel, Carly and Evan!
“The wedding of Evan and Carly – truly a sentence I never thought I would say.” – Chris Harrison#BachelorInParadise pic.twitter.com/NY1oFfLqO4
— Bachelor in Paradise (@BachParadise) August 16, 2017
Then, it was time to address the elephant in the room. What really went on between Corinne and DeMario? After the brief suspension, the cast was brought back to Mexico, and Chris Harrison sat the group down for what looked like an after-school-special kind of debrief that quickly turned dark. Chris explained that Warner Brothers hired an outside team to investigate the incident and they found “no evidence of misconduct by the cast.”
Some of the cast members back on shore were quick to blame the media for “blowing things out of proportion,” while others assured Chris that they never felt in danger on set and trusted production.
The question of race was also brought up. Chris asked the group if race had played a role in the situation that unfolded, and many of the cast members were quick to answer “yes.”
“I’m sensitive to it, because I’m from the South and we have a stigma that we’re seeing a white woman with a black man is wrong,” Raven Gates said. “And that night, what happened wasn’t wrong. And so I was super empathetic with DeMario, because it’s just another issue. Not only is consent important, but it’s also to get rid of the stigma that interracial couples can’t be or blaming African American men for crimes they didn’t commit.”
Jasmine Goode added, “I was just thinking the whole time: ‘What if this happened to my brother?’ He’s a great guy from the guy I met here … and I never felt he was aggressive with any of us. … I just hate that he’s going to have this image stuck with him for a while.”
As the conversation progressed, the group discussed what it means to consent and how being under the influence of alcohol influences that.
RELATED: The season premiere of “Bachelor In Paradise” brought the drama and tackled controversy in a big way
“Would you have given the same consent if you were sober?” Diggy Mooreland wondered after the group talked a lot about how intoxicated both parties involved were. “Alcohol impairs judgement.”
There was also talk of slut-shaming Corrine and the double standard that is commonly used to judge women more harshly when they behave in sexually assertive ways than when men do. Following the incident, Corrine made a statement in which she referred to herself as a victim, and the cast had opinions about that.
Derek Peth commented that her statement seemed to be a lawyer’s statement rather than her own; Raven opened up about a previous sexual assault. She said she was hopeful that this incident would not deter other victims from coming forward.
And with that, Chris Harrison asked the big question: did they want to stay on and continue filming? Of course it was a yes! And I’m relieved. Bring on the margaritas!
Back in paradise, the girls and guys gathered to figure hash out the tensions in the air and the impending rose ceremony that was interrupted.
Taylor Nolan and Derek went out on a Dia de los Muertos themed dinner and spent the night together. Jasmine was in tears after Matt Munson decided to call it a night early. Kristina Schulman and Dean Unglert hit a bump in the road despite spending the suspension together, and it seems the two have gone there separate ways after Dean admitted his wasn’t really “feeling it.” Kristina later wound up in tears at the tiki bar but was comforted by bartender Wells Adams (and a big margarita).
A look at the #BachelorInParadise cast! pic.twitter.com/u2rfi6rgjp
— Bachelor in Paradise (@BachParadise) August 3, 2017
The drama continues next week when “Bachelor In Paradise” returns on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Gifs are all courtesy of Giphy.com.
