This post contains spoilers fromBachelor in Paradiseseason 7, episode 3.
Tammy Ly and Deandra Kanu found a surprise boom box with a sign that read “Play Me.” When Tammy, 26, hit play, “It’s Gonna Be Me” blasted out of the speakers — andLance Bassappeared to take the reins fromDavid Spade.
“We got some hot men coming in this week,” Lance announced.
Craig Sjodin/ABC
First up:Thomas Jacobs, whomKatie Thurstoneliminated from herBacheloretteseason after he owned up to having thoughts aboutbecoming the next Bachelor. A lot of the other men from Katie’s season balked at Thomas, 28, arriving on the beach, but the women appreciated his presence.
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“He’s so hot,” Tammy said.
Serena Pittagreed. “When Thomas walked in, all the girls had this little like, twinkle in their eye,” she said. “Someone is making out with this guy today, and I’ll be okay if it’s me.”
Tre Cooper and Aaron Clancy warned against Thomas. “He’s not a good guy,” asserted Tre, 26. “I truly don’t think he’s here for the right reasons.”
Aaron, 26, concurred, “Thomas is a manipulative dude.”
Thomas entered with a date card and pulledAbigail Heringer,Tahzjuan Hawkins, Mari Pepin-Solis and Maurissa Gunn to talk and assess whom he wanted to ask on the date. Ultimately, Thomas invited Serena P., who previously accepted a rose from Grocery StoreJoe Amabile, on the date.
Joe, 35, tried to keep his cool, telling Serena P., 23, “You’ve got to explore your options. I get it.”
But in an on-camera interview, Joe worried that the situation would be a repeat of his last time onParadise, when Kendall Longcouldn’t decide between him and another guy. “This feeling sucks,” Joe admitted.
Riley Christian fromClare CrawleyandTayshia Adams' seasons also arrived on the beach. Despite her connection with Tre, Tahzjuan called Riley, 31, “the entire reason why I’m here inParadise.” But the lawyer ended up asking Maurissa, who’d been vibing withConnor Brennan, to join him on a date.
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THOMAS AND SERENA P.‘S DATE
Thomas and Serena P. started their date out on the ocean, bouncing around on a banana boat and water inflatables. Then they proceeded to a picnic, where Serena asked Thomas about the drama he got tangled up in on Katie’s season.
ABC/Craig Sjodin
Thomas claimed his issues started with Tre, whom he initially considered a friend. “He’s emotionally not strong,” Thomas said.
He tried to assure Serena P. that he could be trusted. “One of the things I’m always going to do, and I’ll promise you right here, I don’t want it to ever be a thing where you have to guess what’s going on with me,” Thomas said. “I don’t want you to be in the dark with what I’m thinking, what I’m going through, what I’m feeling.”
Serena P. respected his honesty. “I really appreciate you being so awesome, and I honestly had an awesome time with you,” she told Thomas.
But once Serena P. arrived back on the beach, she informed Joe that she actually told Thomas “he should pursue other people” because she didn’t want to be involved with his drama. Joe felt relieved. “It does feel nice to have a connection,” he said.
Tahzjuan told Thomas “things might get a little dicey” for him inParadisebecause of the baggage he came on the show with. So Thomas approached the other men from his season — James, Aaron, Tre and Karl — in hopes of clearing the air.
“There were times I had a chance to come completely clean and I looked you in the eyes and I lied to you,” Thomas conceded. “I didn’t tell you the truth. Regardless of what my intention was, regardless of what my inspiration in those conversations were, it doesn’t matter because I lied to you, I took you for granted and I was an a– to you. And that’s just point-blank what happened and I’m taking full responsibility for that.”
Tre came from a more forgiving place. “I want to offer the grace to people that I’ve been given,” he said.
But when Tre reconvened with the rest of the group, Tahzjuan informed him that Thomas had been talking about him on his date with Serena P. According to Serena P., Thomas told her that Tre “needs to be boosted up and needs to be given love and support because he emotionally isn’t strong.”
Tre Cooper.ABC
With that, Tre’s forgiveness disappeared. “I’m going to focus on me and my connection with Tahzjuan. You go crazy,” Tre told Thomas. “This is going to be the last conversation I intentionally have with you. Wish you the best of luck.”
Thomas tried to explain himself, but Tre wouldn’t hear it. “I can only be so nice,” Tre told the cameras. “I try to treat people with respect. I try to not ever let people push me to that level. But it’s just been trash bag behavior. Human trash behavior. He’s, for lack of a better phrase, dead to me.”
RILEY AND MAURISSA’S DATE
Ahead of Maurissa’s date with Riley, Connor, 29, told her to “have fun” and added, “I’m excited I got to see you in your outfit.”
Even in an on-camera interview, Connor played it cool. “I really am not upset or sad or anything like that because it’s a date, you know? It’s a date,” he said. “This isParadise. That’s just part of what this is here.”
Maurissa, 25, felt excited, calling her night with Riley “the first real date I’ve ever have.” When she and Riley arrived at their date, Lance informed the duo that he’d be asking them questions to help them get to know one another. And if they didn’t want to answer a question, they’d have to eat a food of his choosing from a platter of what Maurissa deemed “the most disgusting looking things I have ever seen in my life.”
riley christian/instagram; Craig Sjodin/abc
Lance started out with softball questions such as “have you ever slid into a celebrity’s DMs?” and “have you ever said ‘I love you’ but have not meant it?” But when Lance asked Riley and Maurissa how many people they’d each slept with, the couple opted to take a bite of tongue instead. Refusing to divulge their most embarrassing story resulted in tasting tripe (cow stomach).
Despite the evening’s gross factor, Riley said in an on-camera interview that their chemistry was “great.”
After Lance cleared the icky plates and Maurissa and Riley had some one-on-one time, she opened up about wanting a husband and kids. Riley hoped to find the same things. “I just want a good, genuine, real person,” he said.
Maurissa shared that in previous relationships, she didn’t always receive the assurance she needed and that caused her to doubt herself.
“There’s one point, I hated the way I looked, I hated myself and I just let go of myself,” she said. “I wasn’t going to the gym or eating healthy and I ended up just gaining like, 80 lbs. I was 200-and-something lbs. People treated me different, even people that knew me before.”
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“Riley is definitely exceeding my exceptions,” Maurissa told the cameras. “The fact that he wants to get to know me and there’s this much sexual chemistry as well, it’s like, is this really happening?”
They ended the night together in bed, while Connor waited patiently back on the beach.
Bachelor in Paradiseairs Mondays and Tuesdays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.
source: people.com
