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Tag: Lisa Mancini

Bachelor in Paradise Canada: Triangles on the beach

The “Bachelor in Paradise Canada” cast ahead of Tuesday’s rose ceremony. Three of the women were gone by episode’s end. PHOTO CREDIT: All photos Citytv

Welcome to “Bachelor in Paradise Canada,” Spin the Bottle edition.

I jest, of course. The bottles are either behind the bar with Kevin Wendt or set up on tables during dates for prime product placement. And nobody on the beach was actually playing a teenage kissing game. But there were some serious wandering lips on Monday’s episode.

Take Joey Kirchner, for instance, returning conquering Canadian hero.

It seems he was more hot for the red Ferrari on last week’s date than for fan Shaz Gafoor, even though he kissed her and not the car. “My rose is going to the Ferrari,” Joey joked.

And yes, Joey smooched Shaz again before the rose ceremony, but next thing you know he was on a beach bed with Celine who, after being disappointed by Cole, was vibing wth Joey’s “Alberta charm.”

Celine Paquette and Joey Kirchner get acquainted on Tuesday.

“Joey’s looking like Tim McGraw up in here,” she said. Well, sure, Tim’s still got the abs, I guess.

It wasn’t long before Joey and Celine were using their lips for something besides talking.

Joey ended up giving his rose to Celine and cutting Shaz loose — she wasn’t mad about it — since Shaz was “the horse whisperer,” but Celine was “the horse you’re riding.”

Except Joey was back in the saddle the next day with — wait for it! — Maria.

Somewhere, Vay Paquette — the woman who coupled up with Joey and got insanely jealous of his “friend” Maria last season — is yelling, “I told you so!”

Joey had already admitted during the “Paradise bonfire” that he’d had past dalliances with both Maria and Nithisha. So that’s what Nithisha meant by going out with friends “and stuff.” Hell, the Bachelor Nation hookups at Stagecoach have nothing on this gang.

Maria herself described her connection to Joey as “a really complicated relationship.” But at least she was willing to kiss him — her first kiss in Paradise, no less — which is more than she was willing to do with either Quartney or Connor initially.

Speaking of those two rivals for Lisa Mancini’s affections, both still seemed to be in play in Tuesday’s episode.

American “Bachelorette” alum Quartney had spotted Lisa kissing better known “Bachelorette” alum Connor Brennan the day after Lisa and Quartney’s supposedly “incredible” date.

Was a pissed off Quartney going to withhold his rose from Lisa Mancini? Nah.

Quartney brought it up at the bonfire — more on that event later — and made his displeasure known to Lisa the next day. He even intimated that he might be “done” with Lisa and his rose was up for grabs.

Well, first off, Lisa is one of the season’s stars so you really think the producers would let her go home in the second episode? Secondly, Quartney’s backup plan was apparently Maria, but that fizzled pretty quickly when Maria dodged his kiss. So back to Plan A then?

As for Connor, he took Lisa for a walk, under Quartney’s watchful eye. But despite Lisa’s admiration for “handsome, charming, quirky, funny” Connor, she refused to make out with him.

Lisa was taken, so Connor Brennan tried his charm on Maria Garcia-Sanchez.

So Connor’s Plan B was . . . yep, Maria. Despite how “easy and fun and effortless” things were with Lisa, he found Maria “wildly attractive.” And she accepted his rose at the rose ceremony despite not smooching him beforehand.

The next day, however, the kissing-adverse Maria laid one on Connor — before pulling away and giggling, which seems to be her MO. “You’re very cute, Connor,” she said: not exactly a ringing endorsement, especially since Maria said in her ITM interview she was still in her head about Joey.

So let’s run down the other triangles and, in Cole’s case, quadrangles.

It wasn’t bad enough that ex-“Survivor” player Cole Medders was already torn between fan contestants Sam and Celine. Ex-“Bachelor” alum Rianna decided to make an 11th hour play for Cole.

I think in the game of football that’s called a Hail Mary, except in Rianna’s case it was more like a “no chance in hell.”

It was too little too late for Rianna Hockaday and Cole Medders.

Not that Cole didn’t like Rianna — he said she was “very much my type of person” — and when they kissed they were “in sync,” according to Rianna. But was that really enough to sway Cole from giving his rose to Sam? Nah.

For one thing, I suspect former “Big Brother Canada” contestant Sam is someone the producers want to keep around, partly for entertainment value, partly because there’s some drama brewing between her and Lisa.

Questioned by special guest Demi Burnett at that bonfire I keep mentioning as to whether anyone in Paradise was giving off “toxic vibes,” Sam chose Lisa, saying she gave “backhanded compliments.”

OK, sure Sam.

So let’s talk about the bonfire and “Hurricane Demi,” whose arrival coincided with a storm in Paradise — or that’s how it was edited.

Some umbrellas and cushions blew around; a Muskoka chair caught fire; Demi’s top blew apart: “My titties are flailing,” she said.

But the “Bachelor in Paradise” alum’s arrival and the bonfire she presided over with host Sharleen Joynt were less hurricane than tempest in a teapot. Let’s move on.

We haven’t really talked about the rose ceremony yet, which came in the middle of the episode. We already know where Joey’s, Quartney’s, Connor’s and Cole’s roses went. Austin’s went to Chelsea Vaughn, no surprise there. Matia’s went to Meagan. And Garrett’s went to Nithisha.

Fans Shaz and Linda Charlie joined Rianna on the boat to nowhere. Sorry ladies. I’m pretty sure, unlike last season’s “Bachelor in Paradise” U.S., nobody’s being brought back to the beach and, even if they were, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be any of you.

With the power of the rose switching to the women, it was time to bring some new men to the resort. And along came “Big Brother Canada” alum Godfrey Mangwiza and U.S. “Bachelorette” alum Edward Naranjo (Michelle’s season), with date cards in hand naturally.

Nithisha Ketheeswaran was feeling it with “Bachelorette” alum Edward Naranjo.

They chose Lisa and Nithisha, respectively, to go on an ASMR date, which stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. Basically the women were in one sound booth, the men in another, and they whispered and made sound effects into microphones shaped like ears that travelled into the headphones of their dates.

Godfrey said ASMR is “on the line between sexy and weird,” which sounds about right. But whereas Godfrey found Lisa’s sound effects “cute,” Edward found sexual chemistry in Nithisha’s.

So no new competition for Quartney then, but Garrett, who knows Edward from Michelle’s season? Well, hmmm, Nithisha was already vibing with Edward over the fact he seemed to like camping and hiking as much as she did. When they sat down for drinks and he whispered, “I would really love to feel your lips” into her ear in Spanish, it was “Garrett who?”

Yes, there was mucho smooching, although Nithisha failed to volunteer that information when she met up with Garrett later. In fact, she said she didn’t feel “a spark” with Edward, that she was thinking of Garrett the whole time and she was almost certain Garrett was the “right one” for her.

Girl, what?

The truth about the smooch was outed when Joey asked Edward at the bar, in front of Garrett, if he had kissed Nithisha. Her response to Garrett when he confronted her: “If you’d asked me I would have said yeah.” Oh dear.

I feel for her, I do.

Nobody should be getting all that possessive at this stage of the game, but Nithisha probably should have ‘fessed up about the kiss to Garrett on her own. But where would be the fun in that for the producers, I guess?

Next week, cute animals! And holy hell, is that Lisa kissing Cole? Also, a new guy named Jake walks in and seems to have the women’s hearts aflutter.

You can watch Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

Bachelor in Paradise Canada: Joey and Lisa return as stars

Joey Kirchner makes his entrance on the “Bachelor in Paradise Canada” Season 2 premiere. PHOTO CREDIT: All photos Citytv

I know we just finished with the coronation of King Charles III in England, but is it too early to crown a king and queen of the lake?

That was a rhetorical question. “Bachelor in Canada Paradise” finally premiered its second season on Monday with a couple of Canadians as the undisputed stars.

Yes, fan favourites Joey Kirchner and Lisa Mancini are back and they’re ready to play. (And they’ve got a nicer spot to play in, now that production has moved to the Christie’s Mill Inn and Spa in Port Severn, Ont.)

Joey strutted in, pecs and biceps popping, running his fingers through his now longish hair, like the reality TV star he has become. And Lisa, the show’s unofficial narrator, was her usual funny self and managed not to fall off her platform shoes or cry during the first episode, unlike last season.

Also, it seems doubtful that Lisa will get friend-zoned this year. Several men professed to be into her blue eyes, her cosplaying skills, and her appreciation for the video game “Overwatch” and Nintendo 64’s. But when Lisa got the episode’s first date card she chose Dallas dude and fellow “super nerd” Quartney Nixon from Katie Thurston’s “Bachelorette” season for some smooching and fireworks-watching.

Joey also got a date card and picked one of the “Bachelor Nation” fan contestants, Toronto model Shaz Gafoor, for a spin in a bright red Ferrari and some kissing. (Hold up, Joey got to drive a luxury car and Lisa got, um, a picnic with booze and snacks for her date?)

One question still to be answered: when you take the cowboy out of Alberta is he still a cowboy?

Joey stripped down to his Speedo. Looks like someone has been working out.

Joey turned up in cowboy boots, which he accessorized with a cowboy hat and a pair of black Speedos (the pink ones have been retired in a frame, as seen in the opening credits). But Texas nurse Rianna (Clayton Echard’s season) and Salt Lake City tech CEO Garrett (Michelle Young’s season) were skeptical of his cowboy bona fides.

I doubt Joey would care. And neither would the women, it seems, almost all of whom were angling to be his date, especially Winnipeg flight attendant Celine, who showed up in cowboy boots of her own, and Stouffville fan Nithisha, who said she and Joey had hung out with friends in Toronto.

Nithisha, it seems, gets around. She had also, ahem, hung out with Connor “The Cat” Brennan of “Bachelorette” and American “Paradise” fame after sliding into his DMs.

“Did you hook up?” a producer asked.

“Possibly,” said Nithisha. So yes, then.

But Connor wasn’t interested in rekindling anything of a romantic nature, saying he didn’t feel “a magic spark” with Nithisha.

Squirrel-loving St. Catharines “mermaid” Lisa Mancini was the belle of the beach.

He was sparking — for now anyway — with Lisa, saying that Quartney was too strait-laced for her and she needed someone who could “match her level of weirdness.”

And don’t feel sorry for Nithisha getting friend-zoned. Before she started drooling over Joey she was smooching it up with Garrett.

The thing is: nobody is particularly serious about anybody at this point. There is no joined-at-the-hip Brendan and Illeana situation going on so far — and it’s not like that worked out particularly well last season.

So let’s see, we had Lisa kissing both Quartney and Connor; California “Bachelorette” alum Austin (Katie’s season) laying lips on both Brooklyn model Chelsea (Matt’s season and “Paradise”) and Yellowknife fan Linda; and then there was Cole Medders.

The ex-“Survivor” player and professional rock climber was the hottest thing on the beach next to Joey and soon found himself in a lust triangle with Celine and Sam, who bonded with Cole over their ADHD. They also have past reality TV experience in common since Sam, a Newfoundlander, was on “Big Brother Canada.”

Sam could very well become a new “Paradise” fan favourite. She gives good quip in her ITMs. But it looks like there’s a rocky road ahead for her and Cole.

The episode’s other hook-up involved Matia, a cocky former pro hockey player from Toronto whom Lisa pegged as a “cabana douche babe” and “f-boy,” with Vancouver fan Meagan. But Meagan deduced her heart was going to get hurt, a good guess since the season promo appeared to show Matia kissing Maria.

Remember her? The Colombian-born clothing designer who was the target of Vay’s wrath in Season 1 for being friends with Joey?

Oh well, it’s “Paradise.” Best not to take it seriously, not at this stage anyway.

The episode ended with one of those tired “a storm is coming” cliches and Demi Burnett, ex of “The Bachelor” and two rounds of “Bachelor in Paradise,” showing up at the resort, apparently with a date card in hand.

Look, I thought “Hurricane Demi” was a spent force after her second go-round on U.S. “Paradise,” so I’m not sure what she’ll add by stirring the pot, as she claimed, on this side of the border. I guess we’ll see.

You can watch Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

Joey gets his girl, Josh gets rivals on Bachelor in Paradise Canada

Joey Kirchner and Vay Paquette share some news on “Bachelor in Paradise Canada.”
PHOTO CREDIT: All photos courtesy of Citytv

You could say that Sunday’s “Bachelor in Paradise Canada” was about loyalty and the rewards or consequences thereof.

Joey proved his loyalty to Vay and got to leave Paradise with his girl.

Josh proved his loyalty to Lisa and was rewarded by . . . her going on a date with another guy. Then, when Josh tried to rekindle his flirtation with Maria — yes, she was still around, I’ll explain later — she got scooped up by another newcomer, raising the prospect of Mr. “Bachelor” in Paradise not getting a rose.

I’m skeptical that Josh will get bounced. I mean, look what happened with Maria. Last week’s episode made it seem as though Josh might give her his rose at Lisa’s expense, but he stuck with Lisa.

By rights, Maria should have gone home along with Bianka and Nicole. Iva had already self-eliminated with the words “I had a blast, but I’m peacing out.”

But then, after the final rose, host Jesse Jones reappeared with a final, final rose, a.k.a. “a special rose for a special lady who deserves another shot at love here in Paradise.” It was up to Josh and the other men, including Kamil, Brendan S, Brendan M, Alex, Joey and Mike, to decide who that lady would be and they chose Maria.

Maria Garcia-Sanchez, right, got to stay thanks to a “special” rose; Bianka Kamber, front, had to go.

The cynic in me thinks that had as much to do with Vay’s continuing jealousy of Maria as with second chances, but there we are.

The next day, Joey was in tears after a sleepless night as Vay continued to give him the cold shoulder over the fact he’d left Vay to go to his friend Maria’s cabin and talk her into sticking around.

Once Vay finally agreed to talk it out with Joey he was extremely contrite, even though I don’t think he had a reason to be.

“I don’t want to be the jealous crazy girlfriend . . . but unfortunately that’s how I felt,” said Vay. “I wish I didn’t care when you spoke about another girl,” she said, adding, “If you want to be with me you need to understand that it comes with a lot of baggage.”

Joey understood and was ready to turn himself into a human luggage rack.

“I hate that I’m the reason you felt the way you did yesterday . . . because I love you,” he said.

“I was trying to be a good person for people in need, but you are my No. 1 priority.”

And with that, the deep freeze was over as Joey and Vay smooched and the other campers cheered. More on them later.

In the meantime, a new dude had ambled into Camp Paradise: 27-year-old engineer and firefighter trainee Connor Rogers from Toronto. And he was Lisa’s type, “a mix between Owen Wilson, Prince Harry and Bradley Cooper,” as she put it.

Connor had the good fortune of arriving just after all the men had disappeared to play basketball, but I doubt Lisa would have been dissuaded from accepting his date even if Josh had been around. She did spare a thought for Josh, however, saying, “If I have a great time with Connor I will actually be worrying about Josh because then I’ll have a hard decision to make.”

Lisa Mancini was vibing with Connor Rogers and I don’t even know if he likes Hawaiian pizza.

Well, wouldn’t you know that the date allowed Lisa, a renowned friend to rodents, to channel her “inner squirrel” on a ropes course? And, more importantly, when she and Connor got to the drinks-on-a-couch part of the date, Lisa opened up to him about the death of her father in 2020, something she said she hadn’t shared with anybody else.

“I’m, like, hopeful that we can keep pursuing this,” Connor said before they shared a kiss, one that Lisa said left her feeling sparks whereas kissing Josh felt “more like a friend.”

Oh dear.

To her credit, Lisa told Josh what was going on after she and Connor returned to the beach and he was . . . totally cool with it.

“If you really like someone, Lisa, I want you to explore that here, honestly,” Josh told her. “I’m in your corner. Whether I’m with you or I’m cheering for you, I’ve got your back.”

How sweet is that?

And the silver lining was that Josh could now explore his feelings for Maria guilt free. Just before Lisa turned up, Josh and Maria had been hanging out by the fire pit, flirting, and had agreed to get to know each other more.

But then along came Karn Kalra, a 30-year-old actor from Toronto. (His credits include “Tuxedo Man #1” in the Oscar-winning movie “Green Book,” playing Saddam Hussein in “The Dictator’s Playbook” and Agent Folson in “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” so more than “actor” Chris Sutton on “The Bachelorette.”)

Maria Garcia-Sanchez got to go on another date, this time with newcomer Karn Kalra.

And why wouldn’t Maria go on a date with him? Josh has got to be one of the nicest guys in Camp Paradise, but it’s not like he’d given Maria a rose.

She even seemed to have fun tubing with Karn, despite getting thrown out of the tube at least twice and face-planting once, which didn’t look like it tickled.

Karn scored points with Maria for being close to his mom and he said she “checks a lot of the boxes off.”

Still, Maria went for a walk with Josh when she got back to camp and said she had more in common with him, but she stopped short of letting Josh kiss her, pointing out, “You literally just kissed someone the night before.”

Well, yeah, it’s Paradise. And your point is?

We’ll have to wait till next week to find out if Maria agrees to be Josh’s fourth Paradise lip-lock or goes for the clean slate, a.k.a. Karn.

In the meantime, Joey and Vay solidified their bond with a date that involved roasting weenies and marshmallows next to a mini trailer called a Happier Camper (honestly, the product placement on this show is intense).

Vay Paquette goes cowgirl for her honey Joey Kirchner on their date.

Vay showed up in a cropped gingham top, jean short shorts, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, which Joey said made him “happy in a bunch of places.”

“Whoever thought the guy walking in in the pink Speedo would be this amazing man?” said Vay.

We knew that Joey had “something big” to tell Vay, but he’d already popped the L-word and it seemed early for an engagement. It turned out Joey had to leave Paradise for Alberta that night to be best man at his friend’s wedding and he wanted Vay to come with him and meet his family.

“Will you be my plus one?” he asked.

“Of course I’ll come with you,” she replied.

So Joey and Vay rode off into the night after exchanging heartfelt hugs with their cast mates. Damn it, I’m going to miss you, Joey!

Now let’s talk about the other couple who dropped an L-bomb. That would be Brendan S and Illeana.

Brendan Scanzano hasn’t wavered in his devotion to Illeana Pennetto.

Brendan has only had eyes for Illeana since Day 1 so it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that he was talking about getting engaged and asking Illeana for her favourite ring style (princess cut or radius cut, which she had to explain to Brendan).

Illeana appeared to be less gung ho than Brendan, saying that he’d run head first into an engagement without thinking about how things would work outside Paradise, but when Brendan told her he loved her, she replied, “I know you do and I love you too.”

And then there were Kamil and Caitlin.

Caitlin Clemmens and Kamil Nicalek. Is she really having doubts or are producers just messin’?

Kamil planned a surprise for Caitlin with blankets, bubbly and a basket of clementines in honour of the nickname he gave her. And they seemed to be on the same wavelength as far as wanting to be in a committed relationship and yet . . . Caitlin kept expressing doubts: about whether Kamil would “step up” when they were a plane ride away from each other; whether he’d call it quits like he did with Annaliese on U.S. “Bachelor in Paradise”; whether she herself would overcome her instinct to cut and run to avoid getting hurt.

It’s hard to tell if these are genuine obstacles or just editing to make it seem like Caitlin and Kamil won’t leave Paradise together.

In any event, it seems like shit is about to get real, or as real as it can anyway, next week. It seems the committed couples are having serious chats ahead of the last rose ceremony. And it look like there will actually be a rose ceremony. And then Jesse shakes things up by announcing fantasy suites.

Yes, definitely a shakeup considering this has been probably the most chaste season in “Bachelor in Paradise” history.

You can tune in next Sunday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And don’t forget “Bachelor After Show: After Paradise” at 9:30 p.m. If you want to talk Paradise with me you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

Day 1 team under threat on Bachelor in Paradise Canada

Illeana Pennetto went on two dates on “Bachelor in Paradise Canada.” Hint: neither
of them was with Brendan Scanzano. PHOTO CREDIT: All photos courtesy of Citytv

Do you know what happens when a dog pees to mark its territory? Every other dog that walks by tries to pee on that exact spot.

So there’s a big flaw in Kamil Nicalek’s analogy suggesting he’s warning other men off his territory at Camp Paradise, i.e. Caitlin, the same way his dog does when he takes a leak. That’s not how it works, bro.

Take Brendan Scanzano, for instance. No one has marked his figurative territory better than him since “Bachelor in Paradise Canada” began, with him and Illeana virtually inseparable since Day 1.

But if you want to stick with the pee analogy, new arrival Adam Kunder unleashed a veritable fire hose on Brendan’s turf in Sunday’s episode when he took Illeana on not one but two dates.

How will this triangle work out? We’ll have to wait till next week to find out where Illeana bestows her rose.

But given that the strongest couple on the beach appears to be threatened, Lisa Mancini might have had the right idea when she joked on a previous episode about having a “Bachelor” show for friendships. Four weeks into “Paradise Canada,” the bromances and womances are looking more solid than any boy-girl pairing.

Kamil Nicalek was throwing shade on Sunday, mostly toward new arrival Adam Kunder.

For instance, Kamil was boiling mad and ready to defend his best friend Brendan S, to the point that his aggressive attitude was freaking Caitlin out. (Although to be clear, the most he threatened to do was to flick Adam’s backwards baseball cap off his head.) I kind of get Kamil’s defensiveness. I don’t want to see Brendan get hurt either, although Caitlin also has a point: Illeana is a grown-ass woman and can make her own decisions.

Not everyone was pulling for Brendan S and Illeana. Joey expressed the opinion that Illeana was being “suffocated” by Brendan and told him to his face he was like “a lost little puppy” following Illeana home.

On a more thoughtful note, Joey also theorized that Brendan — who shared how much he longed for a regular family life since his parents had split up when he was 3 — was looking for a committed relationship to help him feel whole. So maybe we’ll just call him Dr. Joey from now on.

Brendan was already fretting about Illeana’s level of commitment the night before Adam arrived when she left him to chat first with Alex and then Jeremy. (And I have to come clean here. I said last week that the promo showed Alex kissing Illeana, but that was Kit he was smooching. Sorry, wrong blond.)

To put things in perspective, these folks had been hanging out for just seven days by the time Adam showed up. That’s more summer vacation romance than put a ring on it, although Brendan said he was ready to leave Paradise with Illeana.

On the other hand, Illeana did tell Brendan during a romantic hot tub encounter, “There’s really no way that someone could come in and take your place.”

So how did she go from that to telling besties Angela and Caitlin that she got “a lot deeper” with Windsor, Ontario firefighter Adam after just one date?

Well, kissing had something to do with it, lots and lots of kissing. Sure, Illeana might say it was the fact she and Adam both like to meditate and journal (although he calls his daily entry a “mission statement”), and that they had deep conversation (he told her he’d been engaged and had a friend die in a tragic accident), but Adam himself hit the nail on the head: “The sexual chemistry is out of control.”

Illeana Pennetto and Adam Kunder, reigning queen and king of “Paradise” triangles.

Bartender Kevin Wendt, who has a front-row seat to all the action, told other cast members that “from minute 2 to hour 5, they were just making out,” “they” being Illeana and Adam.

It’s worth noting this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a “Bachelor” show makeout sesh in a bouncy castle — yes, I’m talking about Nick Viall and Corinne Olympios — although at least Illeana didn’t straddle Adam, not that we saw on camera anyway.

But let’s take a break from the Illeana, Adam and Brendan S show to talk about other folks.

The only person as disappointed as Brendan to see Adam arrive was Chris.

He put on his best man bun in anticipation of a new woman hitting the beach and possibly saving his ass from elimination, but nope, just another dude.

Oh well, there’s always a friendship rose from Lisa. Oops, wait, is that Lisa kissing Josh in a hot tub?

Yeah, the Josh and Angela flirtation from last episode lasted only as long as it took for Brendan Morgan to reclaim Angela after she got back from her date with Josh. She admitted to “a smooch” with Josh but melted when Brendan told her, “Honestly, today has kind of been an eye-opening day for me. It helped me realize how much I actually like you.”

So Josh rediscovered his admiration for Lisa being her quirky, cos-playing self. Lisa felt he was being genuine and not just rose-hunting, and I’d like to believe that too, because I want nothing but good things for Lisa. But if Josh truly is a “Bachelor Nation” fan, as the cast list claims, he probably knows how to play the game.

So who did Chris zero in on when Lisa’s rose seemed uncertain? Would you believe Vay?

Chris Kotelmach with Veronique “Vay” Paquette, his third shot after Caitlin and Stacy.

Not only did he tell Vay he had more than a casual interest in her, he asked Joey, Vay’s Paradise flame, to consider sending her on a date with Chris. Like I’ve said before, the dude’s got some balls.

Joey, with an eye roll, described Chris’s manoeuvres as throwing a hook in the water but without any bait on the hook. He also speculated Chris would hit on the camera woman next.

You might be wondering why Chris would ask Joey to send him on a date. It’s because Joey was given a card that invested him with the power to send any two of his fellow campers on a rendezvous.

He flirted with the idea of sending Adam on another date, but with Caitlin this time, who was down with it. She was feeling underappreciated by Kamil, given how much attention he’d focused on supporting his buddy Brendan S, and also stressed since Brendan and Illeana were both friends.

But, in the end, Joey sent Adam and Illeana on yet another date.

Why? I suspect producer influence had more to do with it than Adam’s promise of Calgary Stampede tickets.

This time it was a hockey date, but the scoring appeared to be about tongues in mouths rather than pucks in nets.

Still, Illeana intimated that Adam wasn’t a shoo-in for her rose.

So next week we find out who she’s gonna pick. Meanwhile, Lisa stresses over who to give her rose to (given Chris’s entertainment value to the producers, my money would be on him). There’s also more tension between Kamil and Adam. And is there trouble ahead for Kamil and Caitlin, the other longest lasting couple in Paradise so far?

In the promo, we hear Mike Ogilvie saying that “Kamil is just on a downward spiral on his way out of Paradise” and “I’m Mack truck Mike and if you don’t move over I’m gonna run you off the road.” Is that Caitlin we see Mike asking out on a date? I don’t know for sure, but that’s definitely Stacy crying.

You can tune in next Sunday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And don’t forget “Bachelor After Show: After Paradise” at 9:30 p.m. If you want to talk Paradise with me you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo

More men mean more drama on Bachelor in Paradise Canada

Illeana Pennetto, Angela Amezcua, Lisa Mancini and Caitlin Clemmens share a laugh — possibly at the expense of the men on “Bachelor in Paradise Canada.” PHOTO CREDIT: All photos courtesy Citytv

You know that old saying “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”? Substitute beach bed for bush and you’ve kind of got the theme of this week’s “Bachelor in Paradise Canada.”

As chill as it seems at Camp Paradise — and the vibe is definitely more laidback than on the American show — there is just a titch of strategy involved in this dating game.

This week’s rose givers are next week’s rose receivers, after all. So if you’re going to double dip — I’m looking at you Chris and Brendan M — best do it in a way that doesn’t piss off the person you’re counting on to buy you a few more days of sun and sand.

You’ll recall that last week‘s end-of-episode drama was about Chris ditching Stacy at the cocktail party so he could explore his “connection” with Caitlin, pissing off both Stacy and Kamil, who’d been attached to Caitlin at the lip for the better part of the episode.

The cliffhanger, if you will, was about who would get Chris’s rose. So it goes without saying that on Sunday Chris was ahead of Kamil in the rose ceremony order, just to stoke the illusion he might give it to Caitlin instead of Stacy — although Caitlin was very clear that she didn’t want it.

Well, duh, of course Chris gave the rose to Stacy and Stacy took it, with a caveat: “I do want to make this clear that after today’s events I will no longer be pursuing where this goes,” i.e. I’ll take your rose now, but then you can stuff it where the sun don’t shine.

I love Stacy!

Five of the roses were locked in: Brendan S gave his to Illeana, Brendan M to Angela, Joey to Vay, Jeremy to Kit and Kamil to Caitlin. The only mystery was David, who had to choose between Ana — a woman he barely knew but whom he’d at least kissed — and Lisa, whom he knew a little too well since she was still pissed about him ghosting her three years ago.

Ana Cruz and Lisa Mancini wait, roseless, to see who David is going to choose.

I honestly thought Lisa was a goner, but I guess I underestimated the power of producer suggestion. David said he was giving his rose to “someone who I feel has had a rough go and I’m hoping by giving her another week she can find what she’s looking for.” Lisa accepted it as an “apology rose.”

When Ana left, David cried, but neither she nor Lisa had any sympathy for him. Ana said he was just trying to redeem himself and Lisa said he was “trying to save face so he doesn’t look like a complete D-bag.”

Wow, tough crowd!

The next day, Chris had shifted from talking about how he had a right to his “process” to saying he’d made “some mistakes.” Ya think? And his mood was about to get glummer because here came a new cast member whom even the other men described as a Greek god — although Alex Bordyukov of “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise Australia” is actually Russian-American.

Joey said Alex Bordyukov had that “tall, dark and handsome thing going on.”

Alex had a date card, naturally, and Lisa pounced on him before he could even finish saying that he wanted to talk to all the girls.

“Lisa is a sweetheart but my goodness, if the girl would just try less,” Joey said. “Too desperate, too thirsty: guys can read it from a mile away.”

Also, her conversational approach needed polish. She started by telling Alex her time in Paradise had been stressful then pointing out who was already coupled up, and then Stacy, also unattached but perhaps a bit less thirsty, interrupted before Lisa could tell Alex anything about herself.

In any event, he chose Kit for the date and they went canoeing. They didn’t seem to connect in any significant way. Kit was smitten with Alex’s vocabulary and how smart he seemed, but we didn’t see them kiss.

Back at the beach, Chris asked Stacy to talk, but if he had any hope in hell of getting a second chance with her, she quickly shot that down.

Chris claimed his chat with Caitlin had been about clearing the air with her so he could move forward with Stacy without distractions.

Stacy wasn’t buying that, nor is anyone else, I suspect.

“This is too much drama too early on for me to want to dabble in something I was not 100 per cent sure on,” Stacy said.

“Let’s hug it out, let’s be friends,” she added and the look on Chris’s face over her shoulder was one of pure dread.

Chris’s really bad day was about to get even worse. There was another new arrival: Mike Ogilvie from “The Bachelorette Canada,” a.k.a. “Eight-pack Mike,” according to Chris.

Funny, self-deprecating and with a so far hidden eight pack: firefighter Mike Ogilvie arrived.

Lisa took another swing and a miss with Mike; it was Stacy he zeroed in on. Turns out they had met and gone dancing in Vancouver, and Mike wanted to pick up where they left off. So did Stacy.

They went on a wood-chopping and s’mores date, and I am shipping these two so hard — especially after they shared a s’more “Lady and the Tramp” style, and Mike got marshmallow on his chin and Stacy wiped it off as they laughed. They are adorable together.

Mike told Stacy she was a shining light in a “world full of fakeness and negativity.” Then they had a good long smooch.

So I wasn’t feeling it the next day when Brendan M took Stacy for a conversation that ended up on a beach bed, with Brendan shirtless. Brendan said he was confused about his relationship with Angela because he still had feelings for both Angela and Stacy, but he didn’t want to be “attached by the hip” to Angela like Brendan S and Illeana. Although he described Angela as potential “wifey material.” Seriously? Wifey? OK-ey.

Brendan Morgan seems to be caught between Angela Amezcua and Stacy Johnson.

Brendan M claimed he didn’t want to have his cake and eat it too, but from Angela’s perspective it sure looked like he was chowing down on cake.

“I feel disrespected. I feel like he’s making me look stupid,” Angela said.

Luckily for her, a new man arrived who was totally Angela’s type: Josh Guvi, a filmmaker, actor and model from Vancouver.

Mind you, it looked like the third time might be the charm for Lisa, who bonded with Josh over their “Star Wars” fandom. He also seemed impressed that she made her living as a cos player. But then Angela swooped in, complimenting Josh’s dimples and flirting over his sideline as a fitness model.

Filmmaker, model and actor Josh Guvi turned several heads when he hit the beach.

Sorry Lisa. Angela and Josh went on a sort of adult version of a bouncy castle date with a couple of trampolines tethered to a blow-up raft. They did, as the date card said, bounce. They also kissed.

I’m not sure Brendan M could see that from shore, but he was feeling “a little jealous.” So, like, you mean the way Angela felt watching you with Stacy? Shoe’s on the other foot and all that.

There was one last bit of drama on the beach involving Kamil, Caitlin, Vay and Joey.

I’m not sure if Kamil is jealous or just incredulous that Vay pivoted to Joey so quickly after Kamil threw her off for Caitlin.

Kamil Nicalek threw shade at Joey Kirchner’s relationship with Vay Paquette.

When Kamil and Vay ended up at the bar together, he told Vay he knew “in real life” she wouldn’t go for Joey.

“Who would you see me with?” Vay asked.

“No one that’s available right now,” said Kamil, adding, “It is very early. Nothing’s set in concrete.”

That sure sounded like a hint that if Caitlin wasn’t in the picture Kamil would be Vay’s guy.

Vay perceived it as Kamil “mindfucking” her, which she shared with Jeremy, who — because he’s in a bromance with Joey and also because it’s good for drama — shared it with him.

Saddle up cowboy! We were meant to think violence would ensue when Joey charged over to demand that Kamil stop talking shit about Joey and Vay. Even Jeremy seemed to think it was a possibility, clutching at Joey’s arm and urging him to “Use your words.”

That impression was stoked further by Joey’s speech about how a stud horse in the pasture (him) would come to the defence of a mare (Vay) who was being scared by a coyoot (Kamil). “That stud’s gonna come through. And I’ll tell you what’s gonna be left of the face of the coyoot. Not so much,” he said.

In actual fact, Kamil and Joey had nothing more than a testy verbal exchange, which resulted in Kamil passively aggressively claiming he had no issue with the “space cowboy” and Joey telling Kamil, “Buddy, don’t start chirpin'” before he walked away.

The other conflict involved Caitlin’s continued fear that Vay was making a play for Kamil, Vay’s unease with Caitlin’s dislike of her and Caitlin’s annoyance that Kamil was getting in the middle of their beef.

So Caitlin and Vay had a one-on-one of their own during which Caitlin admitted she was pissed that Vay took Kamil on a date and also said she didn’t respect the way Vay handled “a lot of situations” in the workplace.

I’d love to have heard more about that part, but instead Caitlin concluded with something namby-pamby about how she wanted both herself and Vay “to have a happy time here and find our person.”

Next week: Chris tries to find redemption in a friendship rose from Lisa; Kamil decides to imitate his dog and mark his territory; Caitlin feels pushed “to the wayside”; Angela admits to Brendan Morgan that Josh gave her “a smooch” (um, sorry sweetie, it was more than one); Illeana gets kissy with Alex, prompting Brendan Scanzano to say he’ll leave.

You can tune in next Sunday at 8 p.m. on Citytv. And don’t forget “Bachelor After Show: After Paradise” at 9:30 p.m. If you want to talk Paradise with me you can comment here, visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @realityeo


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