Bachelor Alums Say There Are More Couples Like Brendan & Pieper In The Franchise

The #Piepergate saga continues. On Tuesday, Sept. 14, Brendan Morais and Pieper James finally left the Bachelor in Paradise after they were confronted about the preexisting relationship they tried to hide on the show. Now, Bachelor alums are saying that this happens more than viewers think.

Brendan wooed Natasha Parker since the beginning of the show, only to dump her for Pieper the moment she arrived. It happens all the time on the island, sure. But what fans and contestants were upset by was how Brendan downplayed and lied about his dating history with Pieper. Apparently, the two went on many dates (10) and were even together the day before Brendan flew to Mexico. (They were also spotted together publicly prior to the show.) What’s worse is that the two were heard talking about their followings, being a TV couple, and on the Sept. 14 episode, making money. Once they were confronted by the rest of the cast, they left that same night.

The two have since been getting lots of flak on social media, even losing followers by the thousands. Bachelor alums also took to social media to decry Brendan and Pieper’s actions, including former Bachelor Nick Viall, who called the two “masterminds of a very poorly planned crime” on Twitter. Some alums, however, are coming to their defense — sort of.

Blake Horstmann, another alum who faced controversy surrounding pre-show relationships, told Us that Brendan is “not the first person” to be in a relationship prior to the show, naming Demi Burnett as an example. In a Sept. 8 interview, he said, “It’s kind of the unwritten rule you shouldn’t do that.”

Blake also had thoughts on the two discussing their social media following on-air, saying, “They’re not the first people to have a conversation on the beach about followers and who has the most followers,” saying that on his season, cast members were also talking about followers and podcasts. “These conversations happen.” As to his theory about why these discussions were aired on BiP, he thinks Brendan having a girlfriend ticked producers off. He said, “I think the producers were like, ‘No, no, no, you tried to bamboozle us, we’re gonna destroy you.’ And they did.”

It’s a more toned-down statement compared to when he was live-posting about the Sept. 6 episode, when Pieper first arrived on the island. On his Instagram Stories, he said, “I just don’t know why they came down. They want the followers they wanna get the engagement.” “I’m trying not to be angry,” he said in a different post, “[But] they really did plan this whole thing.”

Connor Saeli from Hannah Brown’s Bachelorette season echoed some of Blake’s sentiments. On the Wednesday, Sept. 15 episode of Us Weekly’s Here for the Right Reasons podcast, he said he was “kinda surprised” to see the two on BiP, knowing that they’ve been hanging out prior. “Obviously, Brendan was in the wrong for coming on there and ‘planning’ something out beforehand,” he said, adding that Brendan “shouldn’t have played Natasha.”

When Pieper and Brendan were confronted on Tuesday’s episode, they defensively said they decided to go to Mexico to spend time together outside of the “real world,” and Connor agreed “there’s merit” to that reasoning. If he were trying to date someone, he said, he’d take an opportunity to “spend several weeks with each other uninterrupted.” “I feel like that could be OK.”

He continued, “Should he have even gone on Paradise if he knew he was interested in Pieper? Probably not.” Still, Connor later added that it’s “tough” to see the two get roasted online because he knows of others who’ve been going out before going on shows within the franchise and “have not gotten in trouble for it.” Though he wouldn’t say who, he said it “happens very frequently” and “every season.” “Some of the fan favorites from this show have done the same thing, like, literally done the exact same thing.” Much to think about.