Pieper James and Brendan Morais are under fire for their alleged plan to come on Bachelor in Paradise for followers and fame, but according to Bachelor Nation’s Connor Saeli — they aren’t the first duo to hatch a scheme.
“Obviously, Brendan was in the wrong for coming on there and ‘planning’ something out beforehand. And I guess it is kind of up in the air whether he was dating her before, whether they were exclusive or if it was just more loosely going on dates [and] they wanted to explore it. It’s tough for me because I know of other people that have done the same thing before and have not gotten in trouble for it,” the Bachelorette season 15 alum, 26, said exclusively on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast. “They just haven’t been, like, outed, I guess. Obviously, it’s very frowned upon and I don’t think someone should do it, but at the same time, people do it every season. I understand fans and everyone are upset, but you gotta think, like, some of the fan favorites from this show have done the same thing, like, literally done the exact same thing.”
During the Tuesday, September 14, episode of the ABC hit, Pieper, 24, and Brendan, 31, who were caught discussing Instagram follower counts, left after they were confronted by the group for using Natasha Parker to ensure the commercial roofer would still be on the beach when the Bachelor season 25 contestant arrived.
When asked who he was referring to, Connor, who appeared on season 6 of BiP, replied, “I can’t spill that.” He added that he agrees with Blake Horstmann’s suggestion that “everyone” on the show discusses social media opportunities.
“I don’t think that’s everyone’s main thing they’re going for, but it’s definitely in everyone’s mind. And those conversations do happen pretty frequently down there on the beach,” the Waterboy cofounder told Us while recapping Tuesday’s episode. “I don’t really think I was ever involved in any conversations about it, but, like, things were always brought up in regards to that.”
He continued, “When people like Demi [Burnett] and all those other people are, like, coming toward Brendan and Pieper and saying that stuff, it’s like, yeah, I get it, they shouldn’t have done that, obviously, and Natasha was affected by that situation [and] that’s never good if someone is negatively impacted by that, but at the same time, that’s what happens very frequently.”
For Connor’s complete recap of Tuesday’s episode, including why he isn’t sure his friend Noah Erb’s relationship with Abigail Heringer will last, listen to Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast.