‘Bachelor in Paradise’: Can Brendan Morais and Pieper James’ Reputations Recover After Bragging on Instagram as They Lost Over 30K Followers?

People are being exposed left and right on Bachelor in Paradise. Contestants on the beach had been accusing Brendan Morais of already being in a relationship with Pieper James when he got to Paradise. He was able to deny those rumors until Pieper showed up and made things blatantly obvious. Pieper and Brendan made the cardinal mistake of actually talking about their Instagram followings on the show, which caused their follower count to take a nosedive. Can they recover?

Brandon played Natasha

Natasha Parker had confronted Brendan about the Pieper rumors long before Pieper even stepped foot on the beach. He had assured her that the relationship was casual and they had only hung out twice. When Pieper arrived and immediately asked Brendan on a date, he still reassured Natasha.

“Obviously, as you know, I spent time with Pieper already [before the show] and we have a certain connection,” he said. “And you and I have a certain connection. Exploring both is something that I want to do.”

When Brendan relayed what he had told everyone to Pieper, she was disappointed.

“The way I handled it was just like, cool, calm, relaxed,” he told her. “And [I] said like, ‘Pieper and I met, you know, not too long ago, but we’re not dating we’re not in a relationship, nothing exclusive. And in communication we had going into this, we never promised each other that we’re gonna leave paradise together as a couple,’ or ‘If you can’t come, wait for me when I get back,’ or all that stuff.'”

Pieper was confused as she thought they would only be dating each other.

“I’m trying to understand where there’s the disconnect because like, I’m saying I’m here for you. And like, I want to make that, like, abundantly clear,” she said. “I could have just made it up in my head like, I was going to come in and everything was going to be, like, right back to where we left things. But I don’t know, it’s like I’m missing something.”

Brendan admitted that he had had to go about things the way that he did to remain on the show.

Pieper and Brendan talked about Instagram on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’

Natasha later told Pieper that she felt like they were on the show for followers.

“It sounds like, go there, meet a girl, lie to her until I get there and then we will just be on a TV show. And woohoo, yay, followers. Like, let’s be this TV couple,” she said.

Later in the episode, Brendan and Pieper were shown talking about their follower counts and how Brendan was surprised that Natasha was still on the show.

“I can’t even watch this bs,” Natasha tweeted during the episode.

Brendan and Pieper brag while losing followers

Brendan tried to be cheeky and posted a photo with the caption, “Here for the wrong reasons.”

Pieper captioned a post with “All’s fair in love and war.”

She also posted a TikTok to Lizzo’s “Rumors.”

Well, hopefully, Pieper thinks losing Instagram followers is fair as viewers didn’t react as well to Pieper and Brendan’s plan as they probably had hoped. Brendan had previously gained over 20K followers over the course of BIP, according to Bachelor Data. Pieper had gained 8.5k. She lost almost 2K followers and he lost over 29,000 as of Monday, according to Us Weekly. Meanwhile Natasha has gained over 70,000 followers.

Can Brendan and Pieper recover after ‘Bachelor in Paradise’?

Redemption is always possible on Bachelor in Paradise. Numerous villains have turned their stories around. However, the previews for the upcoming weeks seem to show that the cast turns against the couple and things only get worse for them. The pair may regain followers if a new wave of drama hits the beach.