Derek Left 'BiP' Early, But It Didn't Have Anything To Do With His & JPJ's Fight

It's been a rough ride for Derek on Bachelor in Paradise this season. Not only did his relationship with Demi end when Kristian showed up on the beach, but now, it looks like his connection with Tayshia wasn't as strong as it seemed — especially after his confrontation with John Paul Jones. It's not too surprising that he'd want to bow out of the season, but why did Derek leave BiP exactly? It all happened when Tayshia let him know that he wasn't the guy for her.

On Monday night's episode, the drama between Derek and John Paul Jones raged on, and it became obvious very quickly that this love triangle needed to come to an end ASAP. After witnessing a break down from JPJ and taking a minute to think about her feelings, Tayshia realized that he was the one she was really interested in, and that meant telling Derek the bad news.

Unfortunately, he was pretty upset by it — after all, he has had a pretty tough go of it on BiP so far, and somehow, it just keeps getting worse. Even though Tayshia tried to explain to him that it wasn't about him, it was just about her feelings, he couldn't help but take it personally. And not long after they parted ways did he decide that it was time to bow out and head home since love wasn't in the cards for him this time.

Even though Tayshia did her best to break up with him in the kindest way possible, her ending things with him was what ultimately ended up pushing him to make the decision to leave. After all, this late in the season, it's unlikely that he'd form a strong enough connection with someone that would go all the way, so why wait for a rose ceremony to come around?

"I thank you guys for all the friendships I've built here, but unfortunately, this time, that's all I've been able to build," he told everyone before he left. "I'm actually gonna head out now. I love so many of you in so many ways. Thank you all."

Everyone was sad to see Derek go, and they all huddled around him to hug him goodbye. Demi even admitted that she felt "guilty" she couldn't give him what he wanted from her — she said that she felt like he truly deserved to find what he was looking for, and it was heartbreaking to her that only the opposite had happened.

It was heartbreaking for Derek, too, obviously, who opened up about his feelings as he got in the car to leave, saying:

"All I want is somebody who's ready to reciprocate when I start to care. It just hurts. I wasn't ready to go home right now, but it's time for me to leave. I always thought I would have found somebody by now, without a doubt. What I worry about now, as time moves on, is that I'm never gonna find that person, and that's what my biggest fear is."

That's so hard to hear, but just because Derek didn't find love in paradise doesn't mean that he won't find love at all. The right person for him is out there, and now, he gets to start a new chapter of his life as a single man.