Bachelor in Paradise returnee Lace Morris has clapped back at Hailey Malles' comment that Lace's time in Paradise should be up because she's been on the show before and has aged.
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Hailey, who briefly appeared on Clayton Echard's The Bachelor season, made a catty comment in a confessional shortly after Lace's arrival on the beach during Bachelor in Paradise's Season 8 premiere on Tuesday night.
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"I'm all for alumni showing up to the beach and everything, but six years?! Girl, come on, let it [go]. You're done here. You have no place," Hailey told the cameras.
During an appearance on the latest episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast co-hosted by Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young, Lace said, "I think that's kind of a B-S comment."
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Lace, 32, previously competed on Ben Higgins' season of The Bachelor in 2016 before looking for love on Bachelor in Paradise's third edition that summer.
Becca, who starred on The Bachelorette's fourteenth season, admitted Hailey's remark rubbed her the wrong way considering she's the same age as Lace and has appeared on the franchise three times.
(Becca got engaged to Arie Luyendyk Jr. on The Bachelor in 2018. When that relationship didn't work out, she starred as the Bachelorette and got engaged to Garrett Yrigoyen. The pair split, and then Becca met Thomas Jacobs on Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season last summer. Becca and Thomas are now happily engaged).
Becca pointed out how the people on Bachelor in Paradise put everything on the line to find love and so everyone is equally deserving of the opportunity.
"I'm already struggling with the fact I'm coming back six years later. I was like, 'Am I going to be the oldest one? I don't know,'" Lace shared on the podcast.
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"And you know how the world is right now. Like, if you're 32 and single, it's a problem, and it's hard to date as it is. So coming back at 32 is already scary enough and the comment isn't necessary."
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Had Hailey made the comment to Lace's face, Lace said, "I probably would have said something."
"'Why do I have to be here?' Like, why can't I come back?" Lace lamented. "Why can't I get a second chance at love, just like you guys? I didn't find it. That's okay if I come back."
Lace insisted, "I deserve love just as much as anyone else, so who cares I was on [the show] six years ago? And I was scared because I saw that [Grant Kemp] got engaged. So, I feel, 'Oh gosh, I'm still single six years later. Is it me? Am I the problem?'"
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On Bachelor in Paradise's third season, Lace and Grant got engaged at the Final Rose Ceremony in Summer 2016.
Lace, who was a real estate agent at the time of her first Paradise stint, and Grant "mutually" split in November 2016, only two months after their engagement aired on television.
Shortly after their breakup, Grant was spotted out with another woman and Lace confessed she was "shocked" he had moved on so quickly, adding that there was no chance of a reconciliation.
"But I can't think like that. It's not [my fault]," Lace said. "It's just hard to date in this world now, and I accept that."
Lace pointed out how "everyone's timeline is different" for finding their person and settling down.
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"And mine is just a little slower in terms of love, and that's okay," Lace acknowledged.
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Becca, who found her happily ever after against the odds, advised Lace to be patient and never settle.
Prior to appearing on Bachelor in Paradise 3 with Lace, Grant vied for the affection of JoJo Fletcher on The Bachelorette's twelfth edition.
Several months after Lace and Grant's breakup, Grant told Us Weekly in early 2017 that his relationship with Lace was "very volatile."
And Lace admitted during a June 2017 episode of "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast" that it was "definitely lust" with Grant and not genuine love.
"I think lust is like sexual and you kind of have this fantasy of what you want. You want it to work, you think this guy is attractive, you think you're in love. It's almost forced," Lace told Ben and his podcast co-host Ashley Iaconetti.
Lace claimed at the time she had found true love with a man named Russell, whom she'd met on Bumble, but that romance clearly fizzled out and ended.
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