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Bachelor in Paradise

Bachelor spin-off Bachelor in Paradise is totally not Bachelor Pad, more like Bachelor orgy

by Andy Dehnart 24 Mar. 2014 | 8:32 pm

ABC announced today that it’s new summer Bachelor spin-off Bachelor in Paradise will debut August 4. As Chris Harrison insisted, the show is not at all Bachelor Pad and “will be very different.” That’s because it sounds less like a Challenge knock off and more like an orgy.

Here’s how ABC described the new show:

“From the creator of The Bachelor franchise comes the new summer series, Bachelor in Paradise. Some of The Bachelor’s biggest stars and villains are back. They all left The Bachelor or The Bachelorette with broken hearts, but now they know what it really takes to find love, and on Bachelor in Paradise they’ll get a second chance to find their soul mates.

Contestants will live together in an isolated romantic paradise and, over the course of six episodes, we’ll follow these former bachelors and bachelorettes as they explore new romantic relationships. America will watch as they fall in love or go through renewed heartbreak.

The romantic dating series will feature new twists, shocking surprises, unexpected guests and some of the most unlikely relationships in Bachelor history, plus all the usual romance, drama and tears we’ve come to expect from the Bachelor franchise. It all comes together in the romantic television event of the summer.”

Tangent: The Bachelorette also airs in the summer yet ABC has said nothing about it being the “romantic television event of the summer,” which doesn’t bode well for Andi’s journey.

While ABC’s description of The Bachelor Pad in 2010 noted that it was “a competitive reality show,” it added “The show will also offer the 20 now-single contestants a ‘second chance’ at finding love, something that didn’t quite work out during their first stint.”

So clearly it’ll be very different than this new show, on which “they’ll get a second chance to find their soul mates.” For an example of the differences, notice the lack of scare quotes this time.

In addition, the new thing Bachelor in Paradise offers is to watch the alumni “explore new romantic relationships” “now they know what it really takes,” so “America will watch as they” “all comes together.”

Hot. Or maybe I’m reading/quoting that wrong?

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association who serves on its board of directors, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. Learn more about reality blurred and Andy.

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