Before Katie’s season started airing in May, Us Weekly reported that Brendan and Blake kept up with each other on Instagram. Wells Adams, who hosted a date at the New Mexico resort, later confirmed that the two men knew each other off screen.

“The one thing they haven’t touched on is that Blake and Brendan, the guy with, like, the bouffant, knew each other before the show,” the Bachelor in Paradise bartender told E! News earlier this month. “And Blake suggested to Brendan to go on the show. And so when he shows up later, he’s like, ‘What’re you doing here? You told me to come here!’”

Bachelor Nation met Blake when he competed for Clare Crawley’s heart on season 16 of The Bachelorette. After the hairstylist quit with fiancé Dale Moss within the first two weeks of filming, Tayshia Adams stepped in. While Blake developed feelings for the former phlebotomist too, she found love with Zac Clark. Blake, meanwhile, reached out to Katie after watching her on Matt James’ season 25 of The Bachelor earlier this year.

“We had chatted before, but usually what happens is, like, the guys will reach out to the women once they’re eliminated and be like, ‘Good luck, you did great.’ Like very generic, you know?” Katie told Us in June about Blake sliding into her DMs. “And so to see him [in New Mexico], I was like, ‘Why is he here?’ Like, ‘What’s happening?’”

One month later, Blake revealed why he was drawn to Katie.

“When I actually reached out that first time, after the first episode, her responses were very cold back. She was nice, but she didn’t open up her dialogue in any way. It was shut down right then and there,” he said on the “Click Bait” podcast in July. “It was right after her first episode, it was right away. This is where people, I think, can take what I’m about to say one way or another. She came out of that limo with that vibrator, I was like, ‘Yeah, I like what she’s about.’ … It was a simple reach out, It was like, ‘I f–king love that you did that. That was f–king awesome, like, good for you,’ this and that.”

Fans will see whether Blake and/or Brendan earn spots in Katie’s top 4 on the Monday, July 19, episode of The Bachelorette. Greg Grippo, Justin Glaze, Michael Allio, Mike Planeta and Andrew Spencer are also looking to secure a hometown date with the lead.

Scroll through for photos of Blake and Brendan pre-Bachelorette:

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This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Sarah Hearon