Bachelor in Paradise will be back for a third season this summer with several girls from Ben Higgins’ season of The Bachelor rumored to be joining the show. Not only will fans see some of Ben’s girls and potentially a few guys from the upcoming season of The Bachelorette , at least one former cast member — JJ Lane — says that he’s open to returning for another season.
During a recent interview with the New York Post , JJ said that he would return to ABC’s summer reality show under one condition — if one of Bachelor Ben Higgins’ girls is there.
Who does single dad JJ want to meet from Ben’s season? None other than single mom Amanda Stanton.
CA winters pic.twitter.com/yN35eEIxzh
— Amanda Stanton (@amandastantonnn) February 16, 2016
Apparently JJ is “smitten” with Amanda and doesn’t seem to care if his buddy Ben Higgins dated her on the show. Is this a big hint that Amanda doesn’t make it to the final rose ceremony?
JJ didn’t go so far as to say that, but he did say that he wants to get to know her and he would walk away if Amanda isn’t part of the Paradise 3 cast.
“I want to know that girl. I would go only for one reason. I would walk the f**k away if Amanda wasn’t there.”
We made it! Swifties unite! #WristBandOfBrothers #taytay pic.twitter.com/ByRdc5VIMH
— JJ Lane (@jjhlane) September 6, 2015
Lane, who left Paradise without finding love last summer, goes on to say that it’s hard to fall in love once you are on a television show and that it is “very hard to trust anyone.”
After appearing on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of the Bachelorette and on BIP Season 2, he’s just about done trying to finding love on television. Lane plans to retire from reality TV if he can’t meet Amanda in Paradise next summer.
“Once you go on a TV show, it’s so hard to fall in love because nobody is genuine and it’s very hard to trust anyone. Other than that Bachelor in Paradise possibility, he said of reality TV, “I’m done, I’m retired.”
Is there a chance that JJ’s dreams will come true? Here’s the scoop.
Alright…who’s everyone got in the MSU / Oregon game? Gemma has MSU. pic.twitter.com/GULR83msFZ
— JJ Lane (@jjhlane) September 13, 2015
[Warning: Spoilers ahead]
Amanda Stanton made it to the final four on Ben’s season of The Bachelor, and on Monday night’s episode, she will introduce Ben to her two young daughters during her hometown date. According to Reality Steve, Ben sends her home at the rose ceremony — perhaps he wasn’t ready to be a full-time stepdad.
#StepdadGoals ? pic.twitter.com/OKSV3KeCPY
— The Bachelor (@BachelorABC) February 20, 2016
Does that mean Amanda will be available to go to Paradise or does she have a bigger goal in mind? Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss recently sent out a tweet asking fans to choose the next Bachelorette and Amanda is definitely a fan favorite.
Gotta make a decision. Who should be the next Bachelorette???
— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) February 16, 2016
Host Chris Harrison won’t announce the name of the new Bachelorette until after Ben’s season ends on March 14, but Reality Steve thinks there’s a chance it could be Amanda. It wouldn’t be the first time that the show cast a single mom — remember Emily Maynard ?
Amanda, who divorced her husband of two years shortly before filming the Bachelor, would have to leave her daughters — ages one and three — behind again if she was offered the gig. After spending two months away filming Ben’s season, that might be tough to do unless producers allowed her to film with her daughters. Never say never!
If the gig goes to another girl from Ben’s season — Caila Quinn, Becca Tilley, or JoJo Stanton — perhaps she will head to Bachelor in Paradise where she would have a selection of the franchise’s most popular castoffs to choose from — including JJ Lane if producers ask him to return.
Do you think JJ Lane and Amanda Stanton would make a good couple, or should they both take a break from dating on reality TV?
[Image via ABC Television Network]