‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Keeps Proving Men Desperately Need More Friendships
ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise Season 8 is coming to an end soon, and fans can’t wait to see which couples get engaged. While romance has blossomed on the beach, so has friendship — though some of the friendships between the men may get in the way of their romantic relationships. Here’s what we’ve noticed about the show and male friendships.
Some men in the ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Season 8 cast are accused of prioritizing friendship over love
Multiple relationships are thriving toward the end of Bachelor in Paradise Season 8. Serene Russell and Brandon Jones have the strongest connection, but Brittany Galvin and Tyler Norris, Aaron Clancy and Genevieve Parisi, and Michael Allio and Danielle Maltby are also going strong. It hasn’t been smooth sailing for every couple, though. And some of the women accused the men of prioritizing their friendships over their romances.
Aaron and Genevieve got into a fight over Aaron not prioritizing her. The verbal altercation nearly resulted in Genevieve leaving the beach. While she and Aaron were able to work through their differences, Aaron still didn’t understand Genevieve’s concerns.
Jessenia Cruz also called out Andrew Spencer for seemingly prioritizing his time with his friends over finding love. To make matters worse, Andrew was the most distraught all season when his friend, Rodney Mathews, left the beach — and not when any of his love interests exited.
Men have a harder time making friends, according to psychologists
There’s something to be said about so many men having great times with other male friends on the beach at the expense of potentially not finding love. All in all, it looks like adult men might need more friendships.
“It takes vulnerability to find and make friends, and vulnerability is something that as men, we’re taught isn’t a safe space to be in,” psychologist Alexander Cameron told HuffPost. “When we get into that sort of mindset — ‘I just gotta white-knuckle through this’ — asking for help is weakness. It’s showing that I don’t know what I’m doing, or I don’t have control.”
Dr. Earim Chaudry, Medical Director at the men’s wellness platform Manual, also spoke on how difficult it can be for men to find friends. “With mounting pressure put on men to carry everything and everyone on their shoulders, society hasn’t really taught men to let their guards down and express themselves fully,” Chaudry said, according to Yahoo. ” … Culturally, we don’t see any value placed on male intimacy. Often, the ‘lone wolf’ is celebrated and we see a lack of representation of male friendships and bonding.”
A few iconic male friendships have come out of Bachelor Nation
While many Bachelor in Paradise cast members hope to find love, there’s always the chance they may leave the beach with a solid friendship they didn’t have before. There have been many notable Bachelor Nation bromances over the years that outlasted many of the romances.
Greg Grippo, Andrew Spencer, and Justin Glaze became fast friends after competing on Katie Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette. After Hannah Brown’s season, Peter Weber and Dustin Kendrick also established a friendship.
Aaron Clancy and James Bonsall also stayed close. The two connected during Bachelor in Paradise Season 7 and joined season 8 together. James and Aaron later became roommates. “A lot has led to this point, it may not have ended how I intended, but better than I could’ve hoped with a brother for life,” Aaron captioned an Instagram post about James in October 2021.
Bachelor in Paradise Season 8 airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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