Season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise wasted no time bringing the drama — and the love connections — during the Tuesday, September 27, premiere.
Returning cast member Lace Morris may beg to differ, however. The BiP season 3 alum, who was briefly engaged to Grant Kemp during the 2016 season, got off to a rocky start as the cast, which included contestants from Katie Thurston’s season 17 of The Bachelorette, Michelle Young’s season 18 of The Bachelorette, Clayton Echard’s season 26 of The Bachelor and Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia’s season 19 of The Bachelorette, didn’t know who she was.
“I’m all for, like, alumni showing up to the beach and everything, but six years?!” Hailey Malles quipped. “Girl, come on. … You’re done here, you have no place.”
During the evening, Lace left the party to take a nap and declared season 8 the “the most boring” installment of the ABC show yet. After Shanae Ankney convinced her to return, Lace opted to tell everyone it was her 32nd birthday — later admitting to bartender Wells Adams that she was lying.
“I told someone it was my birthday and they believed me and I ran with it. And then everyone believed me. And so I just took it and now people think it’s my birthday,” she said. “People want to be fake in Paradise? I’ll be fake too.”
Lace used her fake birthday as a way to spend time with Logan Palmer, but things didn’t end well when he thought her name was “Luc” instead of Lace.
She concluded: “This might be the worst birthday I’ve ever had. And it’s not even my birthday.”
Elsewhere on the beach, Romeo Alexander struggled to juggle time with Jill Chin and Kira Mengistu. Both from Clayton’s season, Jill and Kira were friends until they both took interest in Romeo before the cameras were rolling. While he struck up a potential romance with Jill after his time on Michelle’s season, he later admitted that they had a falling out because he kissed Kira in a club.
On the show, Romeo eventually told Kira that he wanted to pursue Jill. The physician then got into a fight with the architectural historian, who Kira felt was avoiding her and lied about her intentions with Romeo.
“I feel like I’ve been gaslighted by you and Romeo, like, you’ve been telling me he’s just a friend,” Kira said. “I feel very disrespected by you. … And you’ve been, like, slut-shaming me.”
Jill denied the allegations, arguing that Kira is the one “attacking” her and she’s “running from it.”
“Is everyone else seeing what I’m seeing? Because I’m feeling crazy,” Jill asked the cameras.
Bachelor in Paradise airs on ABC Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for more details on the couples forming after the season premiere:
