Bachelor Nation’s Pieper James and Brendan Morais’ Relationship: Everything We Know

Credit: Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Spa

Bachelor Nation’s Pieper James and Brendan Morais' Relationship: Everything We Know

What happens in between seasons of The Bachelor/Bachelorette never stays a secret for long thanks to Bachelor in Paradise. It’s rare for a season of the beach spinoff not to include offscreen drama and season 7 is no different. During the second week of BiP, Brendan Morais came under fire for his relationship with Pieper James. Bachelor Nation met Brendan during season 16 of The Bachelorette, which aired in the fall of 2020. He ultimately broke up with Tayshia Adams after the day portion of their fantasy suite date included looking at engagement rings. “It freaked him out a little bit. He does want a wife and he wants kids, but the whole process took him by surprise, and he didn’t realize how quickly he was being asked to get down on one knee. It just wasn’t something he was ready for in the end. It was a lot for him to take in. Marriage is something he doesn’t take lightly,” a source told Us in December 2020, noting that he’s been married before. “He was being super honest to Tayshia about how he wasn’t ready for marriage and how he was still broken over his last marriage — that’s not something he would lie about. He was really young when he first got married. His divorce was something he took very seriously.” Pieper, for her part, appeared on Matt James’ season of The Bachelor in early 2021. She was eliminated before hometown dates. [jwplayer YQwKEcQR-l3ahXupL] The ABC stars subsequently connected during the spring of 2021. That June, Us Weekly exclusively confirmed their relationship wasn’t strictly platonic. “They both are super into each other and are getting to know each other and are just having fun going on dates,” a source said at the time. That same month, Brendan left to film Bachelor in Paradise — and based on the trailer, Pieper appears to arrive in a red swimsuit later on in the season. During the August 23 episode, Demi Burnett questioned Brendan’s relationship with Pieper after he told her he wanted to keep his options open following their date. "Pieper and I, we've hung out. We spent some time together, we've communicated, we've enjoyed each other's company and that's that,” he said on the show. “There's no relationship." Scroll through for everything we know about Pieper and Brendan:

Credit: ABC (2)

How They Met

According to a source, Pieper and Brendan “have mutual friends" as “they hang out in the same Bachelor crowd.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

The Timeline

Pieper and Brendan were first spotted together in public in April. The following month, a source confirmed to Us that they spent Memorial Day weekend together. Production on season 7 of BiP began in early June.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin (2)

Long-Distance Love

“Either he’ll fly to New York and hang with her, or she’ll fly to Boston to hang with him,” the source said on June 3. “They’re keeping their relationship under wraps since they’re trying to make it work long-distance and it’s still new.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin(2)

Playing Out on ’BiP’

During the August 23 episode of BiP, Brendan insisted that his relationship with Pieper is “super casual,” telling Natasha Parker, who gave him a rose during week 1, that he has “the strongest connection” (so far) with her on the beach.

Based on the trailer, however, it appears Pieper will arrive during the season and the drama is just getting started.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Pieper’s Side of the Story

After Pieper arrived on season 7 of BiP in September 2021, she admitted to Natasha that she and Brendan went on 10 dates before the show and were dating without “labels.”

“We have to have each other’s back,” Brendan told Pieper on their date. “It has to be you and me, first and foremost, before anyone else on the beach, and that’s the only way we’re gonna get through this, like, being in the position we wanna be in, utilizing this time here and taking advantage of what Paradise would promote together.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Their Plan for Followers

"The best part is the amount of times your name is going to be brought up before you’re on this show," Brendan said during a September 2021 episode of BiP while he and Pieper chatted about their social media followers.

Pieper, who noted she gained 10,000 followers after Us broke the news of their romance, added, ”Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting for me so I could just, like, swoop in here."

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

It's Over

Us confirmed in October 2021 that the twosome called it quits. "Things went downhill once Paradise started airing," a source noted at the time, adding that Pieper "had no idea" what was going on before she arrived on the beach. "They tried to make it work but ended up deciding it was best to break up."

Credit: Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Spa

Vacation Time

After Pieper confirmed they were back together, the duo celebrated Brendan’s 32nd birthday at the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa & Casino in November 2021, visiting the Ruinas del Mar restaurant and getting a couples massage at the ZoiA Spa.

Credit: ABC (2)

Moving In

In September 2022, Pieper and Brendan exclusively told Us that they've been living together in Massachusetts for a couple months — but they're still working on a permanent plan. "I feel like we've always done things as we want," Pieper explained. "We didn't get engaged on the show, which was probably a blessing because we [don't] have to rush to marriage or anything like that. It's kind of, let's take things at our own speed."

The duo also revealed that they started couples therapy together. "We just had our first session today," Pieper explained. "I'm a big proponent of therapy, so I feel like our relationship is great, and this is just the thing to take it to the next level, especially when you are talking about marrying somebody in the future."