Bachelor in Paradise is slowly becoming the dead goldfish you had as a kid that your mom told you was sleeping so that you wouldn't have to experience pain. It's time to flush the damn thing down the toilet and move on.
Unfortunately, it seems that this show will find a way to be on the air forever, clogging our newsfeeds until the end of time.
In an Instagram story captured by Entertainment Tonight, the show's host Chris Harrison posted a photo of the crew filming on the beach with the caption "Almost Paradise!" Though we knew that the show was already confirmed to be back on, I must admit, I was hopeful something might change.
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As you've probably heard, the sometimes-raunchy summer show was briefly put on hold while Warner Bros. investigated alleged sexual misconduct on set between two cast members, Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson. After weeks of "he said, she said," Warner Bros. determined that they found no instances of wrongdoing and gave the green light for production to resume.
Of course, just because the show is back on doesn't mean that something didn't happen that night. Olympios doesn't remember anything, and Jackson is just now speaking out. We've still got a lot of questions that have been left unanswered, namely: Is everyone actually okay? And why did the show halt production if nothing happened?
Look, I know that a lot of people love the show and consider it a guilty summer pleasure; but, I can't get past the fact that every year, this show appears to normalize slut-shaming, racism, and sexism by giving air time to people who should have been forgotten after their seasons of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. How, exactly, is giving these people more attention "paradise"?
In fact, it's starting to feel like this entire BiP scandal has just become another spectacle that minimizes the very real sexual assaults millions of Americans will experience during their lifetimes and the necessary conversations we need to have surrounding those attacks.
So while Harrison and the cast laugh it up in Mexico and drink away the summer, I'll be spending my time consuming content that doesn't leave such a dirty taste in my mouth.