Bachelor in Paradise's contestants probably won't surprise viewers with their behavior -- except maybe one bachelorette in particular, according to show host Chris Harrison.
ADVERTISEMENT
That bachelorette would be Michelle Kujawa, a 30-year-old from Anaheim, CA, who previously appeared on Jake Pavelka's The Bachelor edition as well as Bachelor Pad's first season.
"Michelle K. surprised me the most. People might not remember who she is, but you will in an unbelievable way," Harrison told TV Guide in a recent interview.
"I think people lived up to form. More than not, people didn't surprise me and they turned out to be who I thought they were. Whether it was [Marquel Martin] or Michelle Money or [later arrivals] Jesse Kovacs and Chris Bukowski, whatever you thought of those people will be reconfirmed."
Bachelor in Paradise will feature 25 contestants looking to get a second chance at finding love with the group changing and evolving throughout the course of the season.
ADVERTISEMENT
As for a couple of suitors from Andi Dorfman's The Bachelorette season, which just finished airing late last month, Harrison said Cody Sattler is "lovable and likable" on Bachelor in Paradise, while Dylan Petitt is "too reserved."
AshLee Frazier from Sean Lowe's The Bachelor edition is a "tough nut to crack" on the show and, according to Harrison, Sarah Herron -- who also competed for Lowe's heart during the series' seventeenth season -- is just "adorable."
In Bachelor in Paradise's season premiere, which airs tonight at 8PM ET/PT on ABC, 14 former The Bachelor and The Bachelorette cast members, eight women and only six men, will arrive at a private beach in Tulum, Mexico.
"With Bachelor Pad, you got caught up in the game, so that's why we tore it apart and retooled it. [Bachelor Pad] became about money, and our show and franchise was never about that," Harrison told TV Guide.
At the show's first Rose Ceremony, six men will each be given a rose to hand out to one woman whom they'd like to spend more time getting to know. With an uneven number of bachelors and bachelorettes in the group, two women will be left without a rose and therefore sent home immediately.
ADVERTISEMENT
Just as potential couples begin forming, Bachelor in Paradise's second episode will feature two new men arriving to the beach. For seven weeks, each episode will alternate between two new men or two new women joining the cast.
The switch-ups may cause initial relationships to crumble and new relationships to blossom. Every week, the two contestants who fail to receive a rose will be forced to leave paradise.
"I think people will love that Bachelor in Paradise is about what makes The Bachelor and The Bachelorette great -- only it's not just [one guy or one girl]. It's that times 10, which leads to love triangles, drama and amazing dates," Harrison explained.
"If you love Bachelor or Bachelorette you won't not be addicted to it."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski