2 Couples Leave Engaged — and 1 Pair Gets Married — on the Bachelor in Paradise Season 9 Finale

From almost paradise to almost!

Bachelor in Paradise season 9 ended on Thursday, but not without the latest bouts of drama.

Jess Girod and Mercedes Northup consoled each other after their breaks with Blake Moynes and Tyler Norris, respectively.

Kat Izzo and John Henry Spurlock got a meeting card and went paddle boarding. After that, they told each other about their past.

Aven Jones asks Kylee Russell if they’re ‘done’ if he doesn’t propose Bachelor in Paradise Final (exclusive)

“I have an exterior, for sure, that I don’t think people necessarily understand until you meet me,” Kat, 27, told John Henry, 31, on the sand. “I definitely had some troubles. I struggled with a lot of things in my childhood, but I always said that I wanted to change that generational trauma.”

Kat also said that her father had four wives and that she moved away at the age of 17 and spent time in a group home.

John Henry responded by telling Kat about his mental problems. “Everyone has their inner demons,” he said. “I’ve had things I’ve dealt with in the past. Like probably seven years ago, I was dealing with a little bit of depression. It comes and goes in stages.”

John Henry Spurlock and Kat Izzo.

ABC/Craig Sjodin

Kat and John Henry confirmed their exclusive relationship and began planning their future together. “I don’t want to be with anyone else,” John Henry told Kat.

In an on-camera interview, he said: “I’m definitely falling in love with Kat and I think the next step for us is a potential engagement here.”

Eliza Isichei and Aaron Bryant also looked forward to life beyond paradise on their date, which included a fire ceremony and a Temazcal (Mexican sweat lodge ceremony) led by a shaman.

“I’m really, really falling in love with you more and more every day. I really did,” said 30-year-old Aaron Elizi. “That’s how I feel about you, honestly. And I definitely see engagement with you. I can definitely see myself getting down on one knee and asking you to be my wife.”

Eliza replied, “I’m falling in love with you too.”

2 TERMINATION AND MARRIAGE

Jess, 24, decided to leave Paradise despite giving Tanner Courtado a rose at a previous rose ceremony. As a result, Tanner, 30, also left.

Tanner Courtad and Jess Girod.

ABC/Craig Sjodin

Kylee Russell wanted to see how Aven Jones was doing with her engagement.

“Why is an engagement, specifically, the only way for you to believe that I … see a future with you?” Aven, 29, asked Kylee, 25: “Why can’t I tell you I don’t want to leave here without you…”

Kylee didn’t calm down. “If you don’t see it now, I don’t know if you ever will,” she said.

Kylee continued to cry on the beach to her friends, but Aven went to bed. The next morning, Aven tried to talk to a sad Kylee at the breakfast table about where they left off, but she didn’t want to talk there.

Kylee Russell and Aven Jones.

ABC/Craig Sjodin

Suddenly, Kenny Braash and Mari Pepin, who got engaged on BiP season 7, appeared on the sand and announced that they were getting married where it all began.

Blake, 32, returned to serve as best man, host Jesse Palmer officiated, and the cast of Season 9 attended the ceremony.

“I love you now and forever, and I know that together we will be the best team the world has ever seen,” Kenny, 42, told Mari at the altar.

Mari, 27, also expressed her love for Kenny. “I promise to love you faithfully, always and through everything,” she said.

Olivia Lewis broke down in tears in the crowd and bartender Wells Adams brought out the rings before Mari and Kenny made it official.

Kenny Braasch and Marie Pepin.

Stewart Cook/ABC via Getty

They celebrated with a rave that Aaron thought felt “like an end-of-the-year prom.”

Kylee sought advice from her friend Blake, who advised her to “keep performing [with] what do you want and why did you come here”.

Aven asked the newlyweds for their perspective, and Kenny told him, “I don’t want you to miss an opportunity just because everything has to be right.”

Then Aven and Kylee got back on topic.

“I’m falling in love with you right now,” Aven told Kylee. “But in terms of engagement, I need more outside of this before I take that step now. And I’m just trying to be as honest as possible.”

Kylee ended up doubling down on her desire to propose. “I fell too much in love with you, absolutely, but engagement solidifies a lot of things,” she told Avenu. “And then you can’t fully fight back, that makes me suspicious.”

Mercedes tried to comfort Kylee, but then she decided to leave Paradise because she didn’t feel a love connection with Jordan Vandergriff. This meant that Jordan, 28, also had to give up.

FINAL FIVE

Jesse, 45, informed the remaining five couples that they had one more day left in Paradise and had to decide whether they wanted to go to the Fantasy Suites or not.

Kylee admitted that she was “lying in bed last night just praying” that Aven would change his mind about the engagement. But when she spoke to him, his attitude remained the same.

“I want to be in a relationship with you and I’m falling in love with you,” Kylee said. “And this will hurt a lot if you decide it’s not worth it.”

Kylee decided, “I can’t imagine leaving you,” and she and Aven left Paradise together holding hands.

Kat and John Henry decided to go to the Fantasy Suites, as did Aaron and Eliza.

Peter Cappio hoped he and Sam Picco would follow suit, but Sam, 34, had other ideas.

Sam Picco and Peter Cappio.

ABC/Craig Sjodin

“For me, based on what I wanted from us, I feel like we should have moved on with our relationship,” Sam told Peter, 33. “And to be honest, I want like, intense, unwavering love. And I’m so grateful for our time together, but it doesn’t feel right to continue this relationship for me.”

Peter cried as he rode in the van, lamenting that he had 12 weddings in the past year: “I want one of those 12 weddings to be my wedding.”

Olivia Lewis and Michael Barbour suffered a similar fate. While Olivia, 24, hoped to move on, he told her that “our worlds are in two very different places right now” and they had both left single.

Olivia Lewis and Michael Barbour.

ABC/Craig Sjodin

FANTASY SUITE AND 1 LAST DECISION

Aaron began his time in the Fantasy Suite by telling Eliza, “I can confidently say, Eliza, that I’m in love with you.”

Eliza told Aaron that “she’s in love with you too.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page, especially with what’s next, which is the engagement,” Eliza continued.

Eliza admitted that getting engaged “scared me,” but she didn’t scare Aaron. “You’re crazy, it just makes me want to protect you,” Elizi said.

They toasted with champagne before spending the night together. When they woke up, Aaron said he could imagine a life with Eliza.

“Eliza and I are both in love with each other, which I couldn’t be more thrilled about,” Aaron told the cameras.

Eliza Isichei and Aaron Bryant.

ABC/Craig Sjodin

When they met again for the final rose and possible engagement, Eliza appeared in a white dress.

“Right now I’m so happy to be standing here with you and to also be able to talk about the future because your mom – she had a great conversation with her – I can see what you’ve got,” Aaron told Eliza.

Eliza couldn’t believe Aaron was talking to her mom.

“She’s very proud of you,” Aaron said. “She thinks the most about you. You really have great parents, and I’m so happy and grateful to be here.”

Then Aaron pointed out the big moment. “Eliza, I want to do this with you,” he said. “I understand what this means for both of us. Eliza Manola Isichei, will you marry me?”

Eliza said “yes!”

“I put the ring on!” Aaron gushed after that.

Eliza added, “It’s a fiancee!”

As for Kat and John Henry, she was relieved when they woke up that John Henry wasn’t snoring. “Last night she really showed me who he is and where we could be,” Kat told the cameras. “I see him as a husband. I see him as the father of my children.”

But John Henry had some doubts. “My heart tells me to get engaged, but my gut tells me not to,” he said in an on-camera interview.

When they arrived on the day of their engagement, Kat admitted to John Henry that she had not expected their relationship.

“Because of you, I stand here now, happy and incredibly at peace,” she added. “I’m completely, wholeheartedly in love with you, completely, and that’s such a crazy thing to say. Being with you seems like a love that comes only once in a lifetime. Just know that I love you, John Henry, and I want to forever.”

All the ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ couples who are still together

John Henry expressed the same misgivings about Kat earlier, telling her that “my instincts tell me it’s too soon” for an engagement.

“But you know, right now I’m going to try something a little different, I’m going to follow my heart today,” John Henry continued. “My heart tells me you’re amazing, you’re all I’m looking for. I really see a future with you. I don’t fall in love, I’m in love with you too. On that note, Kat, will you marry me?”

“Yes Yes of course!” she replied in disbelief.

John Henry put a diamond ring on her finger and accepted her last rose.

John Henry and Kat then met with Eliza and Aaron to toast “finding love in paradise”.

in post-Paradise update, fans have learned that Kylee and Aven’s relationship has “blossomed” since filming ended, while Eliza and Aaron have been working on some “lying couch potato” in theirs. Kat and John Henry are still “happily engaged” and plan to start a life together in San Diego.

Perhaps this biggest surprise came in the form of learning that Brayden Bowers had started dating Zach Shallcross’s Christina Mandrell Bachelor the season after Paradise wrapped.

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Bachelor in Paradise can be streamed on Hulu.

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Source: HIS Education