I try not to judge, but I've come up with 16 familiar faces who should not return to Bachelor in Paradise for Season 4. Whether it's because the process isn't working for them, because they can never top their experiences from a past year, or because the show is just enabling them, these former contestants need to quit while they're ahead.
I'm sure it's tempting to get back out there for another shot at love, but I don't think Bachelor in Paradise is necessarily for everyone. It's a shortening of the already very brief courtship period of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. We're talking three weeks, at the end of which you're encouraged to get engaged, guys. It takes a very specific personality type to succeed there.
For example, someone like Jared Haibon can go back as many times as he wants, as far as I'm concerned. He gets along with everyone, he isn't a creeper with women he's not attracted to, and he treats the women he is involved with with respect. But not everyone is a Jared, and these Paradise alumni in particular would be well-served to seek out another venue for their search for love. Just saying.
1. Chad Johnson
What should I lead with? The fact that, on Season 2, Chad Johnson told Chris Harrison off, or the fact that he needed to be removed from the show? Any one of those alone should be enough to keep Chad away from the Paradise beaches in Season 4, no matter how many times he apologizes.
2. Chris Bukowski
When Chris showed up in Week 5 of Season 2, he spent his fifth appearance on a Bachelor show drinking all day. When it came time to ask someone out, things got out of hand quickly. Tenley Molzahn politely turned him down, Joshua Albers asked if he could have the date card to take Tenley out instead, and Chris accepted — then promptly quit the show. It was a very swift spiral, and it didn't leave me very optimistic about potential future visits to Paradise.
3. Samantha Steffen
Samantha Steffen and her pre-show text messages wreaked enough havoc on the relationships of Season 2 that she can stay home for this show's foreseeable future, as far as I'm concerned.
4. Joe Bailey
After watching the way Joe Bailey manipulated Juelia Kinney's emotions so he could stay on the show for one more week and meet Samantha Steffen on Season 2, I'd be happy never seeing him on Bachelor in Paradise again.
5. Nick Viall
Hopefully, Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi stay together, so this won't be an issue. But, if they do break up, I think four Bachelor shows is enough.
6. Ashley Iaconetti
It's been two seasons of getting to know Ashley Iaconetti at this point, and I'm still not convinced that she enjoys her time in Paradise. It seems like the majority of her time is spent crying, so maybe she can find a way to spend her time that makes her a little happier. Just a thought.
7. Lace Morris
I'm one of those people who really thought that Lace Morris and Grant Kemp were a perfect match, and I'm bummed that they couldn't make it work. But I agree with Lace that, after everything she went through there, returning to Paradise would probably be pretty weird. In her own words, "No, I feel like I'd have PTSD from that, if I went on there. Like, I got engaged last time. I'd be stepping down."
8. AshLee Frazier
By the end of Season 1, Ashlee Frazier had turned into a bit of a bully toward some of the other contestants, particularly Clare Crawley. I don't need to see her coming down those stairs into Paradise again, thank you very much.
9. Josh Murray
The only people who truly know what's gone down in relationships with Josh Murray are the people who have been in them: Andi Dorfman and Amanda Stanton. But his controlling behavior on Season 3 was not a good look, and I never got good vibes from him.
10. Lacy Faddoul
Remember that time when Lacy Faddoul and Marcus Grodd pretended to get married after getting engaged on Season 1 of Bachelor in Paradise, and it turned out to have been a fake wedding and everyone was really confused? Yeah, I don't know if I'm able to trust them again after that.
11. Marcus Grodd
Please see above. There's already such a suspension of disbelief, considering that this show airs over six weeks but is actually only about 21 days long. Adding in fake weddings is too much for me.
12. Leah Block
If you come to Paradise searching for Chad Johnson even after seeing what a menace he was on JoJo Fletcher's season of The Bachelorette, it becomes difficult for me to root for your own personal journey.
13. Daniel Maguire
Sorry, but the minute you pass up a gem like Sarah Herron to throw yourself at other women who aren't interested, I start to question whether you're ~here for the right reasons~.
14. Sarah Herron
I love Sarah Herron, and she's one of my favorite people to come out of the Bachelor franchise... which is why I can't bear to watch another season of people making her feel bad about herself, like we saw on Seasons 2 and 3.
15 & 16. Haley and Emily Ferguson
Not only do Haley and Emily Ferguson have their own spinoff show now, but the rule on BIP that if one twin got a rose, the other could stay as well always rubbed me the wrong way. It felt like it suggested they were one person, when they're two individuals. If either Haley or Emily wanted to come back solo, I'd fully endorse that, but as Twins, no thank you.
The Season 4 cast should be being released pretty soon, but hopefully none of these names will be on it.
