‘Bachelor in Paradise’: Kendall Long Breaks Silence After Show Exit, ‘My Actions Speak for What I Want’

Kendall Long recently sent herself home on 'Bachelor in Paradise. Now, she is responding to fans who are telling her how she should have handled the situation.

by Christina Montford

Published on September 24, 2021

2 min read

What did Kendall say to critics?

On Sep. 23, Kendall posted a series of photos of herself in a flowy black dress and red heels.

“Refuse to live vicariously,” she captioned the images. “Dare to say no to conforming to others’ ideas of happiness, learn to say yes to curiosity, and to leap toward things that scare you. In the final chapter of life wouldn’t it hurt to look back and regret a story formed from pieces of others’ lives, wants, and desires?”

The post went on to seemingly address what happened on Bachelor in Paradise.

“I do what I feel is right,” she wrote. “I say what I need to say. I don’t regret a single thing.”

One fan commented on the post and said that Kendall should have made some sacrifices to be with Joe.

“I will always make sacrifices for what I want,” Kendall responded. “My actions speak for what I want.”

Why did Kendall and Joe break up after ‘Bachelor in Paradise’?

In Jan. 2020, Kendall and Joe announced that they had split up after almost two years together. Later, Kendall revealed the reason behind the breakup.

“It was a little bit of a surprise,” she told Entertainment Tonight of the split. “But I think, ultimately, Joe foresaw his happiness and work in Chicago, and I can’t resent him because of that. And for me, I just never foresaw a future there.

“So I think that it became an ultimatum within itself, where either I move to Chicago or we break up, and I didn’t really wanna have a relationship like that,” she continued.

Did Kendall come to ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ to win Joe back?

When Joe first came back to Bachelor in Paradise, he had a hard time letting go of his old relationship with Kendall. But, he quickly began connecting with Serena Pitt and started developing real feelings for her. Kendall reportedly came on the show as a way to officially get over Joe.

“She went on for another chance at finding love since she knew it could possibly work out for her again,” a source told Us Weekly. She “was ready to fall in love” and hoped for “closure to move on completely and close that chapter officially with Joe.”

However, in the end, she was unable to watch Joe fall in love with someone else. In their final conversation on the beach, Joe said that he would not have come to the beach if he didn’t feel sure that things were over between them. After hearing that, Kendall sent herself home, even though she had been forming a connection with Ivan Hall.