‘Bachelor in Paradise’: Kendall Long and Joe Amabile’s Uncomfortable Beach Reunion
Like every installment of The Bachelor franchise, the upcoming season of Bachelor in Paradise promises to be the most dramatic yet. But this season, which comes two years after its predecessor, might live up to the claim. A crop of new couples will invite romance, tears, and screaming matches. As a new trailer shows, though, even more drama will come from the reunion between exes Kendall Long and Joe Amabile.
The couple met on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’
Long and Amabile met on the fifth season of Bachelor in Paradise. Long was a loveable taxidermist from Arie Luyendyk’s season of The Bachelor. Amabile became a fan-favorite after Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette despite being eliminated on the first night.
The couple quickly connected when they reached the beach, but Long struggled with commitment issues all season. She chose to keep their relationship open. According to ET, fter an argument about their future together, Amabile decided to leave the show.
“The fact that you’re not happy about where we’re at after everything is really just the answer,” he said. “That’s it. I’m going home.”
Following his departure, Long realized her mistake and chose to leave the show as well. After a reunion in Chicago, the pair got back together.
They split in 2020
Amabile and Long moved into a home in Los Angeles together and spoke publicly of a possible engagement during their relationship. In January 2020, however, their relationship came to a surprising end.
In a statement to Bachelor Nation, the couple revealed their split. “We have decided mutually to go our separate ways,” they wrote. “Joe has made the decision to move back to Chicago while Kendall will be remaining in her hometown of Los Angeles.”
While the pair remained friends, Long shared on her podcast, Down to Date, that the breakup had blindsided her.
“If anyone knows me, I’m not the person that plans my wedding and I was literally doing that with Joe,” she said. “But something weird about ending something with someone that you thought you were going to marry is almost… you feel like you have such a better idea of what you’re looking for.”
The exes reunite in the ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ trailer
Though their split was amicable, a new trailer hints that their reunion on the new season of Bachelor in Paradise will be tense.
Before the announcement that she would appear on this upcoming season, Long stated that she did not want to watch Amabile on the show.
“It would be so hard,” she said. “I would not want to watch him fall in love with someone else. That would suck so much.”
Ultimately, Long joins the BIP cast after Amabile, giving him time to connect with contestant Serena Pitt. When Long arrives, Amabile asks, “Why did you come here?”
“Why did you come here?” she shoots back before the trailer shows them tearfully embracing.
Though Long suspected the season would be challenging for her to watch from home, it appears even more painful to view in person. The couple’s reunion suggests another dramatic and emotional season of Bachelor in Paradise.
