‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Proves Why It’s the Best Part of the ‘Bachelor’ Franchise

In the first episode of the season, each cast member introduces themselves and shares what they’re most known for from their Bachelor or Bachelorette season. Some of this year’s hits include: being smacked by a vibrator, spilling champagne on one’s own face, profuse sweating, and most of all, being rejected.

In their shared rejection, the castmembers are the most like us. Yes, these people were able to take off the summer, buy 400 bikinis, and spout lines about true love like they are doing an eye exam in a greeting card aisle. But before that, they faced romantic disappointment. The glaring, naked desire for fulfillment that we often see on reality shows is turned down on Bachelor in Paradise. These people have—if not loved and lost—been at least fairly embarrassed on television. The result is a mixture of “fuck it” and adult summer camp.

“I’ve started to learn to actually love myself,” says Kelsey, the champagne spiller, of her growth since Peter’s season. “And I’m not looking for someone to fill my holes”

“Did you expect…for you…to be working with us…in paradise?” Tammy asks guest host David Spade, trying to suss out his identity. (She later guesses Dave Chappelle.)

In Monday night’s episode Demi, a Paradise second-timer with manic Elle Woods energy, brings up the Colton Underwood revelation in the best way. “This has never happened to me before,” she says, after getting rejected by another participant. “Except Colton, and that was brutal. But he was gay!” Which—accurate, brief, fair! In another scene, Jessenia, who was on Matt’s season, shares the racist harassment she experienced after co-starring with the first Black Bachelor. 

This season also marks the return of Tahzjuan, the people’s contestant. She, more than any other cast member, behaves how I think many of us would if we were filming a dating TV show in the summer in central America: She overheats, sweats extravagantly, and gets something in her eye and can’t blink it out. In this season, she starts a romance with Tre, after revealing that she has gone on a date with his uncle.

This. This is what reality TV is for. Join me on the digital daybed this August. When Bachelor in Paradise releases new episodes, days feel sunny, life is simply easier to bear.

Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour. You can follow her on Twitter.