Wells Adams Takes Us Behind the Scenes of ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Season 6
Q&A
Bachelor in Paradise wraps ups its season tonight in a three-hour finale that is sure to be an endurance challenge for fans who have been through it all with this wild crew — and for the Playa Escondida guests who have made it this far.
Whether or not we’ll see engagements, breakups or meltdowns remains to be seen, but there is one guy who has seen almost everything: bartender and BIP vet Wells Adams.
Below, the booze-slinger discusses his experience behind the bar, the contestants who surprised him most, whether his betrothed — Modern Family‘s Sarah Hyland — has gotten a taste of Paradise, and the disgusting drink that kept the cast coming back for more.
Congratulations on finding a way to stay in Bachelor Nation and be relatively unharmed.
Wells Adams: [Laughs] Yeah, it’s not easy. Thank you.
How often were you actually on set for all of this? Like, did you have to be behind that bar at all times?
Oh no. Just because I would fall over from exhaustion! I’m there every day and would usually work like an eight to nine-hour shift. So yeah, I’d get up there, go set the bar up, and then they’d start sending people down to my bar. And it depends — if it’s a rose ceremony, then that’s a night shoot. So generally, if I’m there really, really late and then they’d give me the morning off.
How hot did it get down there in Mexico? This year, it seemed extraordinarily steamy.
Actually, this season was much more temperate than seasons past. It didn’t get real bad until probably like the second or third week. Also we got really lucky this year with the weather. Normally, there’d be thunderstorms during the rose ceremonies, which shuts everything down. I don’t think we had a single one this season, which was awesome.
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Could the Kristina/Dean past ruin a Caelynn/Dean future? #BachelorInParadise
OK, because I was trying to figure out how Dean was surviving in those long black pants and a black shirt while he sat out there in the sun.
[Laughs] That was exactly what I said! Only Dean would come back in all black at like that. But you know what, if anyone can pull it off, it’s it’s Deanie Baby
So how did you get this gig?
Well, I was on Paradise that one time, right? Years ago. But this kind of all started from my season of The Bachelorette. I used to bartend and wait tables and stuff before, early in my radio days. I would work both those jobs. And then when I was on The Bachelorette, I was in a period of my life when I used to love to make Old Fashioneds… so I used to have a rule: If you got a rose before an actual rose ceremony, you had to drink an Old Fashioned with me. So then they became very popular drinks on our season and I kind of just became known as the bartender. When [Paradise‘s original bartender] Jorge left… well, if you never ask, the answer’s always no. So I asked them and it worked out!
So you willingly went back into the fray?
Look, there is literally only one job better than the one I have in the Bachelor Nation.
And that’s being The Bachelor?
[Laughs] No, no, no, no. That’s being Chris Harrison!
Chris Harrison (ABC/Craig Sjodin)
Of course! This year in particular seems to have given us actual couples we can root for.
I would say that every season has some beautiful romantic moments and stuff. I think that this one just had a lot of everything. I think it had a lot of romance, a lot of drama, a lot of tears, a lot of actual altercations. And then sprinkled in with the Demi-Kristian thing, which I thought they did a really wonderful job with. But if you think about last season, you had [Chris Randone and Krystal Nielson] get engaged. Then you had [Jordan Kimball and Jenna Cooper] — that didn’t work, but it was an engagement. And then there was [Joe Amabile and Kendall Long]. They ended up like getting back together and now they’re going strong.
Did you know any of the singles coming in this year?
No. I’m getting further from my own season now, so I’m like an elder statesman. I’m getting further and further removed from everyone. The only people that I knew beforehand were ones I’d heard of like Derek, Dean, Haley, Blake… and that’s basically it.
Who surprised you the most?
Demi definitely surprised me. Yeah, I did not see that coming, her basically coming out as bi or fluid, however you want to play it. But she also surprised me in that I kind of thought that she was someone who would just say things to be funny. [She has] much more substance and intelligence that we didn’t see on her season of The Bachelor.
And I didn’t know how I missed Chris Bukowski. I didn’t know anything about him and I really enjoyed getting to know him. I thought he was cool. I really also liked Dylan. He was like a little brother that I never had. And I really liked Kristian. She’s not from the Bachelor world but was so super cool, down to earth [and] I was blown away at how well she was able to handle reality TV. It’s not the easiest thing and Bachelor in Paradise is really like the franchise all-stars who are very comfortable being around a lot of cameras and stuff. So for her having never done this and to come in to this environment — and to do it so well — was really impressive, yeah.
OK, bartender…what was the most popular drink among this cast?
Oh. So Hannah G. started the trend of this horrible drink called “Happy Juice,” which is white wine and red bull and it was so gross. It’s a like an allegory for Paradise: Weird and gross but also like makes a lot of sense because you’re you’ve got to stay up late. At the beginning, everyone made fun of it and by the end of it, everyone was drinking it!
There are so many hookups all over the island on this show. What’s the one place on set or at the resort that, if you had company visiting, would you say “No, no, you don’t want to sit there!”
[Laughs] Interesting question. This is something that people don’t realize: All of those day beds that everyone goes and like sits on and stuff? Those get wet and then inevitably get moldy smelling. By the end of the season, those daybeds are nasty. If you’ve gotten to the end there, and you’re about to get engaged, uh, you’re avoiding those.
Now speaking of engaged, did you get to host your fiancée down there?
She was supposed to come this year! Last year, she couldn’t because she was still doing a movie and this year, she was supposed to and then at the last second wasn’t able to come, which I was bummed about. So she still has yet to come down there. Maybe if I do it again next year, she’ll come down. Who knows! [Laughs]
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Was there one moment where you were standing there behind the bar, watching all this stuff going on and just thinking, “Thank God I’m off the market”?
You know, the JPJ-Derek fight was just very awkward and weird. So confusing! Most of the time I weirdly like all the drama and kind of stirring the pot a little bit. But that was one night where I was just like “What?!” And I think everyone felt the same way, like we just don’t know what was happening. It was just JPJ yelling at Derek and then Derek wanting to talk about it, but JPJ wouldn’t let him talk about it…it was just odd.
Was there any down-time for you when the cameras were on the fantasy dates or other sequences? Did you get to hang with everybody or did you have to go hide away?
There’s only really one bar open at a time, so if people are up at the pool, then the pool bars open and I don’t work in that one because they make food and stuff. If people were down on the beach, then only my bar would be open. And to be honest with you, it would’ve been nice to I guess to go hang out with people, but those are really long hours and when I’m done with my shift, I just like to go and hang out in the air conditioning and, like, read a book. [Laughs]
Bachelor in Paradise, Season 6 Finale, Tuesday, September 17, 8/7c, ABC
