Bachelor in Paradise couple Brandon Jones and Serene Russell seem to be the strongest couple on Season 8, but did they go all the way and get engaged. Did Serene and Brandon break up or leave the show together, and is the couple still together now?
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[Bachelor in Paradise Spoiler Warning: This report contains spoilers about Brandon and Serene's Bachelor in Paradise fate and how their relationship progressed or ended].
On Bachelor in Paradise's eighth season, Serene, a 26-year-old elementary school teacher from Oklahoma City, OK, was the first bachelorette to arrive on the beach in Mexico.
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Serene, who was eliminated from Clayton Echard's The Bachelor season in fourth place, said she was looking forward to meeting Brandon, a 26-year-old former traveling nurse recruiter from Portland, OR, because he seemed "so sweet and genuine" on Michelle Young's The Bachelorette season.
And Brandon said he was ready to be vulnerable one more time to hopefully find the love of his life.
When Brandon arrived on the beach, Serene admitted to her girlfriends she was barely breathing. Brandon said he thought Serene was "insanely beautiful," and so he immediately pulled her away for a chat.
"I've been waiting for you to get here," Serene admitted.
The couple spoke for a short time before making out, and no one on the beach around them appeared surprised by the fast-moving romance.
Brandon and Serene were totally wrapped up in each other, with neither of them having wandering eyes as new arrivals entered Paradise.
At the first Rose Ceremony, Brandon gave his rose to Serene, and he called her "the most beautiful and brightest joy on the beach."
Days later, a Date Card showed up for Brandon, and he naturally asked the brunette beauty to join him for a night out.
Brandon and Serene got all dressed up for their date, and when Serene approached him in a tight, red, cutout dress, Brandon yelled, "Stop it, you're my date?! Oh my God!"
Brandon actually had tears in his eyes, and Serene said a man had never looked at her that way before. Brandon's reaction to Serene even made Brittany Galvin want to cry, and it made everyone on the beach hopeful they could have that one day.
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Serene knew she and Brandon had something "really special," and Brandon told her over dinner that night that she was the most beautiful blessing in his life.
"I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm crazy about you," Brandon told his date.
Serene gushed about how their relationship had been so easy, and she thanked him for the little things and making her feel comfortable on a daily basis.
Serene said Brandon made her feel deserving of everything she's wanted in a relationship and from a partner, which she had never experienced before.
"You are deserving and so much more," Brandon replied.
"When I saw you, I didn't want to be with anyone else but you -- this gorgeous girl who is just as dorky and weird as me. I'm falling in love with you, and I am so happy that I am. I'm so happy that my life led me to you."
"Well, I am definitely falling in love with you, too," Serene replied. "And I've never felt like this special in my life. I've never felt someone go above and beyond."
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Serene then gave her rose to Brandon, but the couple was separated due to the season's shocking "The Split" twist. Brandon met five new ladies on the Paradise beach, while Serene and the other "OG" women were whisked away to a nearby hotel, where they also met new men.
Serene was so upset to have been ripped away from Brandon that she threatened to quit the show and started shaking. She shouted, "We're ready to burn Paradise down!"
Neither Serene or Brandon had any intention to stay, but that doesn't mean neither of them was feeling worried or a bit insecure.
Serene desperately wanted to return to Brandon, who didn't want his new relationship to be stripped away from him. Brandon feared going through another situation like The Bachelorette 18, when Michelle Young had dumped him at the end for her winner Nayte Olukoya.
"I am mentally losing my sh-t, and I have been for a couple of days," Brandon vented to Rodney. "I have absolutely no power to see Serene, and who's going to be the guy over there comforting her? I want to quit, because what it going to happen next?... I'm on edge every day."
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The guys begged Brandon to stay and stick it out with them, but Brandon teared up and revealed, "I'm no longer falling in love with Serene; I am in love with that girl. If I'm acting like this, I'm in love with that girl, and I know it. It's just scary as f-ck."
Once Serene returned to the beach, she ran into Brandon's arms and kissed him. The couple then said, "I love you," to each other for the first time. Brandon, in fact, promised Serene that he'd never leave her again.
Serene then gave her rose to Brandon at the next two Rose Ceremonies, saying she didn't want to be without him.
So what happens next between Serene and Brandon on Bachelor in Paradise?
According to Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone, Serene gives her rose to Brandon at the second Rose Ceremony of the season when the women have the power.The Bachelor in Paradise couple reportedly continue to fall in love and give each other roses.
Even the show's first-ever "Casa Amor" Love Island-type twist -- when Serene and Brandon will be separated and introduced to new singles of the opposite sex -- doesn't tear them apart.
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Carbone reported back in late June, "The only couple I'm almost positive is gonna get engaged is Brandon and Serene. In fact, I'd be surprised if they didn't. Outside of that, anyone's fair game to break up."
Carbone later tweeted in early July that Brandon did, in fact, propose marriage to Serene at the Final Rose Ceremony and she said "yes."
On Bachelor in Paradise's finale, Jesse Palmer told Brandon and Serene that he was ordained, and so he asked them if they wanted to get married right then and there, according to Carbone.
The Bachelor in Paradise season will therefore end with a cliffhanger for this couple, leaving fans wondering if Brandon and Serene spontaneously decided to tie the knot.
But Carbone reported on November 5 that Serene and Brandon -- who follow each other on Instagram -- revealed at the reunion taping they were not married.
However, the couple confirmed at the reunion taping they were still together, happy, and engaged. The show also gifted Brandon and Serene a trip to Hawaii.
Bachelor in Paradise will air its finale on Tuesday, November 22 on ABC.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
