'Bachelor Pad' eliminates "Super Fans" Paige Vigil and Chris "SWAT" Bain in premiere

Bachelor Pad eliminated Paige Vigil and Chris "SWAT" Bain during Monday night's premiere of the third season of The Bachelor reality franchise spinoff in which 15 former bachelor and bachelorettes and five "Super Fans" compete for a $250,000 cash prize.


Paige and SWAT -- who both entered the game as two of the five "Super Fans," who have been fans of the show and were interested in competing with or against, and possibly dating, the former bachelors and bachelorettes -- were eliminated based on votes cast by Bachelor Pad's third-season cast. Paige was ousted from the competition after receiving the majority of male votes, while SWAT was sent home because most of the female contestants cast their votes his way.

The third-season premiere of Bachelor Pad began with introduction videos featuring some of the season's notable bachelors and bachelorettes and then the 20 contestants arriving at The Bachelor mansion one by one.

Jaclyn Swartz, a 27-year-old account manager from Newton, MA, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season, was dreading the potential arrival of fellow former sixteenth-season The Bachelor bachelorette Blakeley Shea, a 34-year-old aesthetician from Charlotte, NC. Blakeley believed they were good friends, but Jaclyn claimed she actually "hated" Blakeley and that they were "frenemies."

Jaclyn's strategy was to at least be nice to Blakeley's face in order to not give people a reason to put a target on her back so early on in the game. Erica Rose, a 29-year-old law student from Houston, TX, who previously competed on The Bachelor's ninth season, was worried about Kalon McMahon, a 27-year-old luxury brand consultant from Houston, TX, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's eighth season, coming into the mansion.


Erica and Kalon apparently had bad blood existing between them, as Erica had leaked information about him to the tabloids. While they were in the same social scene at home, Erica didn't know how Kalon was going to react to or treat her this season.

In addition, Reid Rosenthal, a 33-year-old realtor from Philadelphia, PA, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's fifth season, was amped up to get rid of Ed Swiderski, a 33-year-old technology consultant from Chicago, IL, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's fifth season, as soon as possible.

Former fifth-season The Bachelorette star Jillian Harris selected Ed over Reid during the show's season finale in 2009, and then Ed in turn proposed to Jillian.

However shortly after the finale aired in July, two former girlfriends of Ed's came forward and claimed they had been -- unbeknownst to each other -- dating and sleeping with Ed before, during and even after the filming of The Bachelorette's fifth season. 

Ed denied the women's allegations and Jillian stood by her man and moved to his Chicago hometown to continue their relationship in the fall, but the couple split the following summer. Although seemingly over Jillian, Reid couldn't wait to seek a little revenge on Ed, who had previously stolen the woman he was in love with from him.


That night, Bachelor Pad host Chris Harrison announced the contestants would be competing in their first challenge the following day, which required them to choose a partner. Chris Harrison announced "Super Fans" Brittany Taltos and Erica Taltos, 22-year-old students from Gainesville, FL, would be competing as a joint contestant throughout the game. Brittany and Erica T. would alternate every week when competing in each challenge with one man, but their votes would count as a single vote.

Chris Bukowski, a 25-year-old corporate sales director from Chicago, IL, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's most recent eighth edition with Emily Maynard, quickly sought out Blakeley, who also wanted to work with him. Chris liked the fact Blakeley was competitive, but before long, Chris thought Blakeley was acting a little too controlling and crazy.

Blakeley asked Chris not to talk to any other girls because they'd serve as distractions, and she made it very clear she desperately needed to win the money at the end of the season. While Chris thought Blakeley was attractive, he had no intention to remain a loyal partner to her.

Meanwhile, Ed got himself extremely drunk and spent most of the night swimming in the pool by himself and yelling about how cold the hot tub water was. Jaclyn got stuck pairing up with him because all the other bachelors and "Super Fans" were taken within a short amount of time. She was frustrated she had to match up with a "loser," who wasn't taking things seriously.

The next day, the bachelors and bachelorettes participated in their first challenge. Chris Harrison explained each couple had to get inside a giant open-faced heart and stay inside as long as possible. The hearts were raised well above the ground and every couple of minutes, they were tilted forward towards the ground until it would be impossible to stay inside.


The last couple to remain in place and "stay in love the longest" would win the competition, receiving two roses -- one for each member of the couple -- giving them immunity from the competition's first elimination vote, as well as a romantic one-on-one date. The losing couple, the very first pair out of the challenge, would unfortunately each receive one vote against them heading into the first Rose Ceremony.

Nick Peterson, a 27-year-old trainer from Tampa, FL, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's seventh season, and Erica were the first couple out of the challenge and Erica was really annoyed. Following Nick and Erica were Blakeley and Chris.

Michael Stagliano -- a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Sherman Oaks, CA, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's fifth season and Bachelor Pad's second season, which he ultimately won with partner Holly Durst -- and Sarah Newlon, a 28-year-old bar manager from St. Louis, MO, who previously competed on The Bachelor's eleventh season, were the next pair to drop.

Jaclyn and Ed fell out of their hearts next, and soon after them came Kalon and "Super Fan" Donna Zitelli, a 22-year-old student from Hackensack, NJ. SWAT and Rachel Truehart, a 27-year-old executive assistant from New York, NY, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season, fell on the mats next.

Following SWAT and Rachel were Ryan Hoag, a 32-year-old high school dean and former NFL football player from Minneapolis, MN, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's fourth season, and his partner Jamie Otis, a 25-year-old registered nurse from New York, NY, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season.


Lindzi Cox, a 27-year-old development manager from Bellevue, WA, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season, and Tony Pieper, a 30-year-old lumber trader from Portland, OR, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's eighth season, were the next couple out of the challenge. Paige and Reid finished in second place, and then finally, "Super Fans" Brittany and David Mallet, a 28-year-old real estate agent and MMA fighter from Hoboken, NJ, won the competition.

Since Brittany and her twin sister Erica T. were competing as a single contestant, that meant Erica T. would also receive a rose and David would get to go on his special date with both girls. Most of the returning The Bachelorette bachelors and The Bachelor bachelorettes were disappointed in the game's results because they planned to vote off the twins first.

Later on, David, Brittany and Erica T. received their date card and the trio enjoyed a boardwalk date in which they went on different carnival rides. Each ride reminded the group of special moments prior Bachelors and Bachelorettes had shared with their suitors, for example, Emily and Arie Luyendyk Jr. kissing on a carousel.

Meanwhile, Blakeley insisted she needed to trust Chris in order for them to work well as a team. She tried to convince him not to be afraid of her. But shortly afterwards, Jamie pulled Chris aside and the couple talked alone in a room -- a move which ultimately led to a kiss. While Jaclyn didn't know Chris kissed Jamie, she told Blakeley they had walked off together. Blakeley started getting very emotional because she didn't have the bond she wanted with her teammate.

"I have no idea what's going on between Jamie and Chris. I don't understand what she's doing. Jamie is a beautiful girl and she can do whatever she wants, but he was my teammate. I held him through the challenge today. I had his back. That's the kind of person I am. I don't want him to be distracted by girls and boobs and all this stuff," Blakeley said in tears.


"I need this money, but obviously, a lot of people don't have respect here. Chris 1000% percent disappointed me as a partner. I just feel like just being hurt all around. He's not my boyfriend, but I care enough about him to not disrespect him. You feel like you're getting betrayed by your friends. I don't know. I just need the money. It's still worth it."

The next day, everyone started scrambling to figure out who was going to vote for whom. David, who had received immunity in the challenge, admitted right to Erica's face he was going to vote for her considering she already had one vote against her for finishing last in the competition. He then made it very clear the fans were playing a game against all the former bachelors and bachelorettes.

SWAT immediately thought David's revelation was totally stupid, because chances were, he'd be on the chopping block since he was the only remaining male "Super Fan" without immunity. If the alumni were going to go after the fans, who were in turn after a couple of the alumni, then SWAT certainly had a target on his back.

Erica then ran around the mansion and tried to do some damage control. She was freaking out that the newbies would gather enough votes to eliminate her, but Michael promised her that he had her back and wouldn't let her go. Michael thought David's move was "mind-boggingly idiotic" because he had mapped out his route to the finale, allowing everyone in on the plan with the ability to stop it in its tracks.

Kalon stood next to the pair and witnesses the whole conversation, and although he acted like he was on Michael's side, he stayed very quiet.

"I'm livid that it's a fan right now that's doing this to me... He thinks he can walk in here and deserves to be here more than I do? That's ridiculous. I want to slap him right now. I'm just disgusted by him. The fact he's trying to get rid of me and he's a fan, like f-ck him, seriously dude. He's just creating a really big target on his back. I don't forget and I don't forgive," Erica said.


Erica then approached David and called him an "ugly loser." She told him his plan was not going to work and he'd be leaving the following week. Erica said he'd never be on the regular show and David suggested he had to pick somebody.

"If you stay, I'm going to make your life a living hell, so enjoy that," Erica told him.

That night, Chris Harrison explained one guy and one girl would be leaving Bachelor Pad at the upcoming Rose Ceremony and that the guys separately must vote one girl out of the house while the girls must do the same to oust one man. The man and the woman with the most votes would be kicked out of the mansion, and then voting commenced.

The "Super Fans" were still planning to get rid of Erica and Nick, but the alumni had every intention to eliminate Paige and SWAT only because they figured the fans had teamed up against them.

"Dave kind of made the stupid-ass move of dividing the house up, saying that the fans were going to go and try to vote off the veterans, and Dave's got immunity. So it kind of put a red 'X' on my back, that's for sure. I hear that the two guys on the chopping block tonight are myself and Nick just because he's already got that extra strike against him," SWAT explained.

"All the girl fans, they're not going to vote for me. They're voting for Nick tonight because they're going along with Dave's plan... But at the same time, from what I know right now, the veterans are all voting against me. I think Erica's voting against me without a doubt. Sarah's definitely voting against me, but I've been a fan for 10 years and it'd be great to stand outside and get a rose. I'm not a quitter and I'm not giving up. I'm going to talk to all the ladies and we'll see if there's anything I can do to persuade them differently."


SWAT's attempts seemed to have little affect on the women's voting decisions. Meanwhile, Michael told Reid the guys were going to vote Paige off, although Paige and Reid had a relationship blooming, because some of the guys wanted Donna around for physical reasons.

Mike told Reid that Nick, Chris, Kalon, Tony, Ed, and himself -- six out of the 10 guys -- were all going to vote for Paige and save Erica. He then explained Ryan, SWAT and David were going to vote Erica out. With the extra vote Erica already had, that would make four.

Therefore, Reid realized his vote wouldn't count if he voted for Erica, but he got upset and wanted to campaign to keep Paige around because he had feelings for her. Reid was going to do everything in his power to rustle up one more vote to send Erica home. 

However Kalon, whom everyone believed was going to vote for Paige like the rest of the alumni guys, told Reid he'd vote Erica off because he didn't want to be on the show with her to begin with. Kalon was still bitter about how Erica had previously attacked his personal life and made him look bad to the media.

SWAT was also unsure about whom to vote for because he was still very mad at David for putting him in a bad position and didn't want to follow along with his plan to get Erica out. But at the same time, all the male "Super Fans" were voting for Erica. It was clear SWAT was going to be the swing vote to either help the newbies save Paige or side with the alumni and save Erica.

In the end, SWAT and the male veterans -- except for Kalon -- voted to oust Paige from Bachelor Pad, and Erica survived the first vote and another week. In addition, the female alumni out-numbered the female newbies and voted to eliminate SWAT instead of Nick.


"Coming on Bachelor Pad was a dream of mine man. I was here to try to find somebody to potentially begin a relationship with. It's disappointing. I didn't want to be the first fan gone, but being chosen to come out here alone, is a big enough accomplishment. I think I'm part of The Bachelor family now. I got a picture with Chris Harrison, how cool is that?!" SWAT said following his ouster.

"I'm so disappointed. I really feel sad. I really truly do. Driving away from Bachelor Pad, I've seen a million people in limos and now I'm one of them. The hardest pill for me to swallow is that I'm driving away from a really great guy. I could've fallen in love there and I don't have that chance anymore," Paige said upon leaving. "Everyone wants to have their love story. I'm going to have mind someday. I guess it's just not right now."






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski