Bachelor Nation Weighs In on Joe Amabile and Kendall Long’s Returns to ‘BiP,’ Possible Reconciliation

Credit: AFF-USA/Shutterstock

Bachelor Nation Weighs In on Joe Amabile and Kendall Long’s Returns to ‘BiP,’ Possible Reconciliation

Kendall Long and Joe Amabile aren’t the first former couple to both return to Bachelor in Paradise, but will they end up like Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon … or Colton Underwood and Tia Booth? Kendall and Joe met while filming season 5 of the Bachelor spinoff in 2017. Following a brief split on the beach, the twosome continued their relationship off screen and moved into together in Los Angeles. In January 2020, however, they announced their sudden split. “I did not see it coming,” she said on her “Down to Date” podcast in February 2020. “Every relationship has issues but I feel like — with Joe and I — we were best friends. Everything was fun, we were getting a dog together. We had just moved in … Ultimately what happened was that Joe felt like he would have a better [life] in Chicago.” Kendall added that she was “literally” planning her wedding to Joe in her head. “But something weird about ending something with some that you thought you were going to marry [is] you almost feel like you have such a better idea of what you’re looking for,” she said. Fast forward to 2021, and Joe is one of the first people to arrive on BiP season 7. Based on the previews for the season, Kendall’s late arrival will throw a wrench into his relationship with Serena Pitt, which got off to a rocky start of its own after Joe compared on the Bachelor season 25 alum to Kendall. [sendtonews type="float" key="fpuoUisbqp-2839796-14453"] In years past, Ashley and Jared found themselves at the center of the drama after they both returned to the beach for season 3 of BiP in 2016. During the 2015 season, they attempted to date but went their separate ways. Caila Quinn ended up in the middle of the pair's second stint. “I regret most promising to Ashley that I would never date Jared,” the Bachelor season 20 alum dished on Us’ “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast in May 2021. “Because if I never had made the promise then we wouldn’t have been in this predicament. At the same time, she did pressure me to make the promise very hard.” In the end, Ashley and Jared reconnected off screen in 2018 and wed the following year. “They were meant to be,” Caila noted. “And you know what? To each their own. And I wish them the most happiness in life.” Kendall and Joe’s fate, meanwhile, will play out on ABC Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for Bachelor Nation’s thoughts on the exes:

Credit: AFF-USA/Shutterstock

Bachelor Nation Weighs In on Joe Amabile and Kendall Long’s Returns to ‘BiP,’ Possible Reconciliation

Kendall Long and Joe Amabile aren’t the first former couple to both return to Bachelor in Paradise, but will they end up like Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon … or Colton Underwood and Tia Booth? Kendall and Joe met while filming season 5 of the Bachelor spinoff in 2017. Following a brief split on the beach, the twosome continued their relationship off screen and moved into together in Los Angeles. In January 2020, however, they announced their sudden split. “I did not see it coming,” she said on her “Down to Date” podcast in February 2020. “Every relationship has issues but I feel like — with Joe and I — we were best friends. Everything was fun, we were getting a dog together. We had just moved in … Ultimately what happened was that Joe felt like he would have a better [life] in Chicago.” Kendall added that she was “literally” planning her wedding to Joe in her head. “But something weird about ending something with some that you thought you were going to marry [is] you almost feel like you have such a better idea of what you’re looking for,” she said. Fast forward to 2021, and Joe is one of the first people to arrive on BiP season 7. Based on the previews for the season, Kendall’s late arrival will throw a wrench into his relationship with Serena Pitt, which got off to a rocky start of its own after Joe compared on the Bachelor season 25 alum to Kendall. [sendtonews type="float" key="fpuoUisbqp-2839796-14453"] In years past, Ashley and Jared found themselves at the center of the drama after they both returned to the beach for season 3 of BiP in 2016. During the 2015 season, they attempted to date but went their separate ways. Caila Quinn ended up in the middle of the pair's second stint. “I regret most promising to Ashley that I would never date Jared,” the Bachelor season 20 alum dished on Us’ “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast in May 2021. “Because if I never had made the promise then we wouldn’t have been in this predicament. At the same time, she did pressure me to make the promise very hard.” In the end, Ashley and Jared reconnected off screen in 2018 and wed the following year. “They were meant to be,” Caila noted. “And you know what? To each their own. And I wish them the most happiness in life.” Kendall and Joe’s fate, meanwhile, will play out on ABC Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for Bachelor Nation’s thoughts on the exes:

Credit: ABC

Wells Adams

“It worked for Joe last time, you know, he kind of fell for Kendall and yes, they had their ups and downs, but they were together post-show for a very long time,” the bartender told Us ahead of the season premiere. “The show doesn’t work for everybody, but for the select few, it’s really, really beautiful. And so I think my concern with Joe coming back on was, it’s hard to recreate something — like, will lightning strike twice? And obviously, that place is near and dear to his heart in terms of his relationship with Kendall. And was he going to have some sort of PTSD by coming back into that place trying to find new love? I was just concerned about his well-being. I also love him as a friend and was legitimately, like, hoping the best for him. And I think that was just probably too, like, ‘Can this happen again?’”

Credit: Courtesy of Jared Haibon/Instagram

Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon

“They might have a very similar experience to what we had,” Ashley told Us on August 7, referring to her and Jared’s season 3 experience.

“It was sad when they broke up,” Jared added. “But I’m rooting for them individually.

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Tammy Ly

“Maybe they get back together,” fellow BiP season 7 cast member teased on the “Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast” after the August 16 premiere. “I don’t know!”

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Bibiana Julian

“I feel that they ended in such a respectful way, and you can tell the way that he speaks about how the relationship came to end. … I kind of get the vibe that they both really cared about one another, and it definitely seems like they would communicate before going onto Paradise, kind of give each other, the heads up,” the Bachelor Winter Games alum told Us while recapping season 7 premiere on Us’ “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast. “Pre-pandemic, Joe was here first in Miami and I ended up linking up with him and we were catching up — this was right after his breakup. And then had the conversation like, ‘What's going to happen. Are you going to go to Paradise?’ And he was like, ‘Well, I don't know.’ And he's like, ‘Well, you know, whether she goes or I go, like, we're both going to end up on the beach.’ It's like a couple from Paradise that split up and where else are you going to know what's happening if don't get them back on TV kind of thing. So I kind of get the feeling that he knew, even if they didn't talk that he had an idea, like, ‘OK, she might be coming.’”

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Nick Viall

The season 21 Bachelor thinks Joe won’t find The One in Kendall — or Serena — because Nick’s theory is the Chicago native could be the next to hand out roses. 

“Wells was on here recapping, and he mentioned that he thought someone could get a Bachelor edit from Paradise. I’m almost certain that must be Grocery Store Joe from what we’re seeing in episode 1,” the “Viall Files” host said on his premiere recap episode. “I loved Joe this episode. There’s a real honesty and earnestness. You could see him really struggling. I think it’s very relatable. I had feelings like that when I went back on Paradise. … He’s probably one of the best people at owning his awkwardness and leaning into it and not pretending he’s not being awkward. That comes across [as] very charming.”