Bachelor in Paradise season 9 viewers aren’t the only ones still reeling from breakup-gate. During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Wells Adams and Joe Amabile got real about all three couples calling it quits within days of the finale airing.
“I reached out to production being like, ‘When are we doing the after show?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, we’re not doing one this year,'” Wells, 39, began during a joint interview with Joe, 37, to promote their partnership with Diageo’s newly launched ready-to-serve Cocktail Collection. “Never has there been a time [when] I actually want some answers from all these people that have now broken up since the show ended.”
Following the December 7 finale, Kylee Russell announced via Instagram that she ended things with Aven Jones because he was unfaithful. Days later, Kat Izzo and John Henry Spurlock revealed their engagement was off, with Eliza Isichei and Aaron Bryant rounding out the breakup announcements that same day.
“I am shocked about Aaron and Eliza,” Wells told Us. “They were so cute and perfect for one another that, like, we kind of stopped filming them because then once you get really, really comfortable with someone, you kind of get boring to watch. I thought for sure that was gonna be the next wedding we did on the beach — 100 percent. I can’t say that I’m super shocked with the Kat and John Henry of it all. I love them both — don’t get me wrong — but they are just such different people. I know opposites attract, but I don’t know — you’re, like, a welder deep-sea diver and you’re scared of water? This isn’t gonna [work].”
Wells added that he’s “sad” by how Aven and Kylee’s relationship ended. “I hate how that stuff is so easily just put into the universe, you know?” he said. “It’s so easy with social media to air your grievances and stuff, and I’m hoping for the best for both of them.”
Joe, who married Serena Pitt in 2022 after meeting on the beaches of Paradise, wasn’t as surprised after watching the season and recapping the show on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast.
“Now I know what it feels like for Michael Jordan to watch the Bulls, you know, it’s the amateur hour out there,” he joked. “Being a success story from the show, like, you root for people, but I mean, you have to get lucky. Serena and I work because — I don’t know, I just feel like we are meant to be and I don’t think that’s as easy as people may think. It’s not just perfect circumstances. We really do work well together, and I don’t know, you didn’t really see that watching any of these couples. For Aaron and Eliza, as a viewer, I felt like we were missing something the entire season. It just kind of always felt very surface-level when I watched it. Wells is there so he sees more. Unfortunately, I’m just not shocked.”
When asked about criticism from fans that the season is a “fail” because there are no successful couples, Wells admitted, “I get it.”
“People want engagements to come out of it and meaningful relationships,” he told Us. “What’s tough is that we’ve actually had a really good batting average over the past couple seasons. You don’t know it’s gonna work and what’s not gonna work and I do remember talking to producers before the show this year and being like, ‘I really wanna focus on [the idea that] I don’t think you have to get engaged for it to be successful.’”
Wells cited Becca Kufrin and Thomas Jacobs — who met on season 7 and have since gotten engaged, welcomed a baby and married — as an example.
“I know that we want to have the Neil Lane shot. I get it. But I think that the health of the show is much better when, like, just meaningful relationships come out of it. … So, I wonder sometimes if too much pressure is put on getting engaged,” he said. “And we saw Kylee kind of do that. She very much wanted to get engaged. I think that’s what she felt like was supposed to happen in Paradise, and I kinda do wish I was there to be like, ‘You know, that’s not the success on the show … the success in the show is actually falling in love with someone and leaving with them.’ Now whether they get engaged or not, that’s completely arbitrary, so, yeah, I do wish that everyone just kind of realized that success in this doesn’t necessarily have to be like, ‘We got married on the beach.’ It’s like, ‘No, you found someone that you really, really care about.'”
After Joe pointed out, “That’s why I thought Kylee and Aven were going to work,” Wells agreed. He then added, “No wonder he didn’t want to get engaged, I guess.”
During the chat about BiP, the bartender effortlessly brought the conversation back to their partnership with the suggestion that he could’ve helped the couples if he had to do less work.
“If I had The Cocktail Collection in Paradise, things would’ve been better because I wouldn’t be so focused on making the drinks. I could just pour them and be like, ‘Tell me what’s going on, I can actually give you some good advice,'” he said.
The Bachelor Nation stars have since served The Cocktail Collection, which includes the Ketel One Espresso Martini, the Ketel One Cosmopolitan and the Tanqueray Negroni, to their family and friends at a festive holiday party earlier this month.
“Right off the bat, my favorite thing about The Cocktail Collection is that I don’t have to be the goddamn bartender at every party I go to,” Wells told Us, explaining that his gig on BiP has backfired in his social life. “[The Cocktail Collection] is basically elevated drink solutions for holiday parties. … [and] it’s not, like, single serve. It’s a pretty large format. You can get, like, a four serving or an eight serving, which is so money. My favorite one is the Old Fashioned, which by the way, that’s how I got my job as a bartender of Paradise. I used to make them in the Bachelorette mansion. But anyway, this whole thing has made my life so much better — you can get it nationwide at Drizly. Everyone just go do this and stop schlepping at the bar making drinks for everyone and their sister because it’s annoying when you actually want to enjoy your party.”
Joe noted his favorite is the Negroni, adding, “The espresso martini is wonderful, it’s Serena’s favorite, but I’m for the Negroni right now.”
Wells revealed his wife, actress Sarah Hyland, has the same taste as Serena, 26. “My wife’s kryptonite is espresso martinis. If you start seeing her drinking espresso martini, you’re in for, like, four renditions of a couple songs from Rent, at least three Disney musical songs,” he quipped. “I know every time that that little, like, coupe glass comes out, it’s espresso martinis, and everyone’s in for it. That one is very, very good. They’re all really good.”
