Entertainment
On Jun. 17's broadcast of Good Morning America, the Bachelor in Paradise Season 6 cast was officially announced with more to come during that night's series premiere of ABC's Grand Hotel. Of course, the two batches of contestants announced ahead of the Season 6 BiP premiere only includes the starter cast. More singles will be introduced along the way — some at the eleventh hour — so if you don't see your favorites on the list just yet, there's still hope that they'll show up at some point during the season.
Arguably most exciting about the first crop of contestants announced is that it includes two singles from the most recent seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette who fans have been shipping for a while. Both Demi Burnett, from Colton Underwood's season, and John Paul Jones, from Hannah Brown's season, were announced as official BiP cast members on Monday morning, so it looks like the weeks-long Bachelor Nation Twitter campaign to get them together in Paradise worked. As for the second biggest news from Season 6? Wells Adams is returning to bartend. Read on to find out who else will be joining them in Mexico for Bachelor in Paradise Season 6.
Cam Ayala
After Cam Ayala got cut from Hannah's season of The Bachelorette, I, personally, was hoping never to hear the phrase "ABC: Always Be Cam" again. But since I am not in favor with the Bachelor gods, Cam is returning for Paradise Season 6. He made mostly enemies on Hannah's season, so it'll be interesting to see how Cam manages to gel with the group.
Blake Hortsmann
Blake Hortsmann was a major fan favorite on Becca Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette. He made it all the way to the final two before getting dumped for Garrett Yrigoyen. And although Blake skipped last summer's BiP festivities, it seems like he's moved on enough to try his luck this season.
Demi Burnett
Demi all but got her BiP invite on the "Women Tell All" special after Colton's season, when Chris Harrison teased that he didn't think Bachelor fans had seen the last of her yet during her sit-down interview. After she showed up on Hannah's season to lend vital support (read: stalk her dates from a surveillance van out front), it seemed obvious that producers were trying to keep Demi fresh in Bachelor Nation's collective mind so that her BiP run would be a success.
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones was the elimination heard round the world on Hannah's season when she cut the smirking, chicken nugget-housing, reaction-shot-king to save Luke P., the unequivocal villain of her season. Fans were devastated to lose their comedic relief, but they can rest easy knowing he'll be bringing his winning personality (and, hopefully, his speedos) to Bachelor in Paradise.
Tayshia Adams
Poor Tayshia got stuck in one of the worst fantasy suite weeks in Bachelor history when Colton basically blew up his entire season in the final moments to go all-in with Cassie, who'd just tried to dump him. Thankfully, Tayshia gets a tiny bit of justice with an invite to Paradise.
Bibiana Julian
Bibiana is the furthest throwback pick from the first batch of contestants announced and it's no surprise she's in the mix. After a failed run in Paradise last season and a stint on The Bachelor: Winter Games, Bibi is still single and still believes in ~the process~ as they say. Last season on BiP, she turned into a little bit of an advice dispensary for the other singles, so hopefully she can learn from that experience and shift to focusing on herself and her own needs this year.
Clay Harbor
Like Tayshia, Clay Harbor from Becca's season also got a bum deal out of his Bachelorette experience. Clay eliminated himself after suffering a wrist injury during a group date football game — the irony being that Clay is an NFL free agent. His wrist needed surgery to heal properly, so he took himself out of The Bachelorette running in order to preserve his NFL career. Becca was bummed but understanding, so hopefully Clay can enjoy a comeback on BiP.
Thus far, the cast seems like a pretty even mix of genuine romantics and silly-but-lovable goofballs with a villain thrown in for good measure. But with more casting announcements coming down the pipeline, there could still be some big surprises in store. Bachelor in Paradise premieres on Aug. 5.
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