Chris Harrison blogs 'Bachelor in Paradise' Week 1

Chris Harrison marries Carly and Evan (Photo: ABC)
Chris Harrison marries Carly and Evan (Photo: ABC)

Hello again, Bachelor Nation! Even though it’s only been a week since The Bachelorette ended and we got to see Rachel and Bryan’s real life love story begin, there is a lot to talk about. Now, if you watched everything this week, at this point, you’ve heard and seen pretty much all there is to hear and see about the shutdown, so I’m not going to get into all of that again.

I do, however, want to once again thank everyone in Bachelor Nation that stood by us with patience and trusted us to get all of this figured out properly. I also want to thank our entire cast for coming back after the emotional and difficult shutdown and getting back to what we are always most interested in: a second chance at finding love. I am also very thankful to the cast for being open and honest and having some difficult, but very important conversations that we all had to have in order to make sure everything was handled properly.

The one thing that changed dramatically was that during the shutdown, relationships back at home progressed and changed and we tried our best to make sure you were all able to keep track of the things that had changed. Another thing that happened during the shutdown was Carly and Evan’s wedding. It’s easy to say something like “they’re the most unlikely couple in Paradise history,” but I don’t really think that’s the case. I think if you really know Carly and Evan it’s pretty easy to see that they were meant for each other. The goofiness, the silliness, and the overall undying love of life that they both have is hard to match. But thankfully, they found each other.

Sometimes the thing you’ve always been looking for is right in front of you, and I think that’s what happened here. Once Carly let go of her preconceived notions of what she thought she wanted, she was able to see that Evan was her unicorn. It was an honor to marry them, and as many of you know, they are now expecting a baby. Next week, I’ll have them on stage with me so you can hear all about how they found out about their pregnancy, and there is a surprise or two with them that you are not going to want to miss.

The dates this first week of paradise were all super romantic, but by the end of Tuesday night, literally all of the relationships that stemmed from them were sailing in rough waters (other than Derek and Taylor, at least not yet). Kristina and Dean, Matt and Jasmine, and Robby and Raven all had dates, but right now we are wondering where any of these relationships will go. The truth is I look at this as good news. As I said before, a relationship like the one that Carly and Evan had is one that we hope to see again, so don’t rule any of these duos out quite yet.

Next week we get right back to Paradise as usual, and with the shutdown behind us, I hope you are all as excited to move forward as we are. And next week you’ll get to see some conversations with your favorites from Paradise. You’ll hear from Raven and Robby, Derek, and Diggy, and I will finally get a chance to sit down with DeMario and hear his side of the story. It’s an emotional conversation you won’t want to miss. Thank you, Bachelor Nation. We love and appreciate you.

Bachelor in Paradise airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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