‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Season 7: Potential Couples, Drama Already Brewing

‘Bachelor in Paradise’ is set to return in August, but ‘Bachelor’ and ‘Bachelorette’ alums didn’t waste any time connecting — read more

In case bartender Wells Adams isn’t keeping up with Bachelor Nation in between Bachelor in Paradise seasons, Us Weekly has rounded up everything he needs to know — so far.

After skipping a 2020 season of the beach spinoff due to the coronavirus pandemic, ABC confirmed in April that season 7 of BiP was a go.

“Later in the summer, Bachelor in Paradise makes its long-awaited return on Monday, August 16. Postponed last season due to the pandemic, the series brings back sizzling summer nights for the first time in two years,” the network said in a press release.

While ABC didn’t announce the series until April, Bachelor Nation was already making connections off screen, according to season 6 alum Blake Horstmann.

“Everybody’s talking to everybody already. And I’m like, ‘Have you guys learned nothing for me?’” Blake, who made headlines for his pre-show hookups ahead of the 2019 season, said on Us‘ “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast in March. “I’m like, ‘God, you idiots, just f—king wait six months and then you won’t have to deal with that.’”

Jade Roper, who met husband Tanner Tolbert on season 2 of Bachelor in Paradise, meanwhile, told Us that the spinoff has changed the rules when it comes to pre-show romances.

“We were discouraged to meet each other or talk to each other before we went on the show because they wanted the onscreen time to be the first time anybody met, and they could see that,” Jade said on “Here for the Right Reasons” in April. “But nowadays, everyone hangs out with each other. It’s so different. But I loved Paradise because of the quality time you got with people. I spent more time with Tanner in two days than I did with Chris Soules in seven weeks, you know?”

While fans know BiP is returning, it’s unclear whether Chris Harrison will be part of the franchise going forward. After the host apologized for his defense of controversial Bachelor season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell’s past racially insensitive actions in February, he subsequently stepped back from the After the Final Rose special. The network later announced Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams would lend a hand for season 17 of The Bachelorette, which stars Katie Thurston and returns in June.

A source told Us in April that the crew expects Harrison to be back in the future, but they don’t know anything for sure.

Scroll through for all of the drama leading up to season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise: