‘Bachelor In Paradise’: Chris Harrison Reveals Cast Members Continued Relationships During Shutdown

Bachelor in Paradise will be back to its old self after that sex scandal involving Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson, which resulted in a temporary production shutdown, is addressed during the first two episodes of the show. The fourth season of ABC’s summertime dating show will address the controversial shutdown right off the bat and then get back to business after Corinne and DeMario clear the air during an “interview” episode, according to the Hollywood Reporter. But it will also be a very different season of Paradise because much of the relationship drama took place off camera.

Bachelor in Paradise host Chris Harrison says it was a “miracle” that the show was able to return after the two-week shutdown. The entire Bachelor in Paradise cast and hundreds of production crew were all sent home from Mexico while Warner Bros. investigated allegations of sexual misconduct on-set after an alleged complaint from a producer. Once Paradise was given the green light to return to ABC’s summertime schedule, the entire season was filmed in just 10 days. Harrison told THR that while the Corinne-DeMario drama will consume much of the first two episodes, by the third week the rose-filled reality show will feel “very much like Paradise” again.

Harrison also revealed that during the Bachelor in Paradise shutdown, many of the cast members sought each other out as they awaited word on the future of the ABC reality show. And in a BiP first, relationships that started before the shutdown continued off camera.

“A lot of them went home, and it was odd being home, so they sought each other out and went to Dallas and wherever they could to be together as a group going through all of this,” Harrison told THR of the Bachelor in Paradise cast.

Harrison revealed that immediately following the initial production shutdown, there was an ” in-limbo period” where producers weren’t sure what was going to happen with the show.

“We kept the cast in Mexico,” he told THR.

“There were no cameras, we just had people around to keep an eye on them and make sure that everybody was safe. But for the most part, they were just hanging out in Paradise, so relationships continued. Then they all went home, and there was that week-plus where things either continued or deteriorated and people went in different directions. When we came back, there is the piecing of it all together. You’ll see that as well, the awkwardness. Some relationships got stronger and survived, some completely disintegrated.”

The Bachelor in Paradise host revealed that viewers will be updated in a new way this season because a lot of the relationships unfolded off camera.

Harrison also revealed that while they were asked back, he was not disappointed that Olympios and Jackson decided not to return to the show (with the exception of the “interview” and reunion episodes), explaining that their presence may have put a damper on the “carefree attitude” of the show.

“I honestly don’t know if that was ever going to be a real option for either one of them anyway, whether they said yes or no,” Chris admitted.

“We asked them to come back because it was something we were mulling over, but we had not made a decision about if they were going to be brought back. I don’t know that we could have had the same show and the same carefree attitude and produced the Paradise show that we wanted to. It probably would have hung over the cast and the show and remained an issue.”

Bachelor in Paradise Season 4 will feature franchise alums Derek Peth, Lacey Mark, Ben Zorn, Iggy Rodriguez, Raven Gates, Jasmine Goode, Alexis Waters, Kristina Schulman, Taylor Nolan, Nick Benvenutti, Danielle Maltby, Amanda Stanton, Dean Unglert, and more.

You can see an extended trailer for the new season of Bachelor in Paradise below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmFKUBbqcyc

Bachelor in Paradise kicks off with a two-night premiere Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 14 and Aug. 15, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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