The Sept. 3 episode of Bachelor in Paradise picks up after Derek Peth’s departure from the show, which took place after Tayshia Adams let him know that she didn’t want to pursue a relationship with him. Now, everyone is waiting to see if John Paul Jones will apologize to Tayshia for stirring things up with Derek and putting her in the middle. Meanwhile, Tayshia is questioning whether or not she should even stay in Paradise — she’s not sure if she’s ready to commit to JPJ and doesn’t know if her “person” is even on the beach at all.
Meanwhile, things are going great for Chris Bukowski and Katie Morton, and they agree to spend the night together to take their relationship to the next level. Demi Burnett and her girlfriend, Kristian Haggerty, are also progressing, and Demi is 100% certain that Kristian is who she wants to be with. JPJ finally pulls Tayshia aside and she lets him know that she’s not happy with the way he pressured her to choose between him and Derek. She wants him to fully trust her and not question her judgments. Even though she’s worried that she won’t be able to connect with JPJ on a deeper level, she admits she has a “soft spot” for him, and they agree to continue their journey together in Paradise.
The next day, Chase McNary, from JoJo Fletcher’s season, shows up on the beach — and he has his eye on Clay Harbor’s ex, Angela Amezcua, who he met at Chris Randone and Krystal Nielson’s wedding. Chase wastes no time asking Angela out, and she agrees. Meanwhile, Clay is struggling to watch Angela dating other people, even though he’s already moved on with Nicole Lopez-Alvar. He even admits that he’s considering leaving Paradise. Mike Johnson urges Clay to pull Angela aside and clear the air with her about how he feels.
Later in the episode, Clay finally does just that. He admits that he didn’t feel that their goals and ambitions were lined up when they were together — Angela wanted to be a wife and mother, and he didn’t want the pressure of being the sole person to take care of the family. Meanwhile, she’s confused about the fact that he brought up having kids with her just two days before ending the relationship. They argue over it for a bit, but eventually agree to move on, although they’re still not on the best of terms.
Blake Horstmann is struggling ahead of the rose ceremony, as he hasn’t made any connections at this point and is in danger of going home. He comes to the realization that Kristina Schulman — who he is good friends with and previously had a fling with — is the one who he wants. They always gravitate toward each other, and he’s convinced there’s something more between them. Kristina is not convinced, and she wants to continue the conversation in the morning, after she’s had time to process it all. However, first, he has to make it through the rose ceremony.
Sydney Lotuaco is unsure of where she stands with Matt Donald ahead of the rose ceremony, as she feels things have been moving fairly slowly in their relationship — they haven’t even KISSED yet! Matt’s a super shy guy and he’s admittedly nervous to make the move. After a push from several of the other contestants (and even Chris Harrison), though, Matt finally goes in for it and makes out with Sydney. Woooo!
Before the rose ceremony, Chris also takes a huge step in his relationship with Katie by asking her to be his girlfriend, and she accepts. Blake assures Kristina that he isn’t just pursuing her now to get a rose and insists that he’ll be “all-in” with her after the rose ceremony is over. She’s definitely confused about his timing, and is still unsure if she can trust him.
Finally, it’s time to give out roses. Nicole gives hers to Clay and Angela’s goes to Chase. Some of the other obvious couples also pair off: Kristian gives her rose to Demi, Hannah Godwin hands hers to Dylan Barbour, Katie’s goes to Chris and Caelynn Miller-Keyes’ goes to Connor Saeli. Haley Ferguson — very randomly — gives her rose to Luke Stone, while Sydney gives hers to Matt and Tayshia gives hers to JPJ. That leaves Kristina as the last to go, and she gives in and gives her rose to Blake, which means Mike is heading home.
Kristina’s trust issues don’t take long to surface once again, though, when Bri Barnes, from Colton Underwood’s season, arrives on the beach and pulls Blake aside to chat. Blake and Bri met at Chris and Krystal’s wedding, and he had previously told others on the beach that he was interested in her. Kristina sobs as she waits to see what Blake will do, but luckily, she has nothing to worry about — Blake tells Bri that he’s not interested in anyone else at the moment. Bri ends up asking Matt out instead, and things heat up as they makeout on the beach during a surfing date.
Meanwhile, some of the couples who are further along — like Hannah and Dylan and Katie and Chris — are making plans for the future as their time in Paradise winds down. Connor and Caelynn are also progressing well, and make plans to spend the night together. Caelynn even reveals that she’s 100% done even thinking about Dean, who left the show and left Caelynn broken-hearted earlier this season.
Of course, this is the perfect time for Dean to unexpectedly return to Paradise and pull Caelynn aside. Dean tells Caelynn that he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her and wants to be in a relationship with her, but she tells him that things are so much “easier” with Connor. However, she also hasn’t forgotten what she had with Dean, and is super confused. Dean assures Caelynn that he’s ready to stop running away from the good things in his life and asks her to leave Paradise with him on the spot. We’ll have to wait until next week to see what she decides, though!