For a while, Rodney Mathews and Eliza Isichei seemed like one of Bachelor in Paradise’s strongest couples. But Justin Glaze’s arrival on the beach changed everything — and Eliza decided to end things with Rodney and pursue Justin back in his hometown of Baltimore instead.
“Y’all know I got a lot of love and joy in my heart to share,” Rodney tearfully tells his fellow beach dwellers. “I really wanted to share that with her. You know, she felt differently.” With that, Rodney went home, leaving the rest of his friends in Paradise absolutely heartbroken.
“It’s tough because I know how much love this man has for people and how much love he wants to give,” Andrew Spencer says in an interview during the emotional episode. “And the one thing that just crushes me is how a man of this stature could feel embarrassed ... he is 1000% worthy of love, and that dude — it’s not his fault.”
Brandon Jones was similarly broken up. “That man deserves every single ounce of love that woman could give him,” he says. “And it’s astonishing how everyone here has fallen in love with Rodney, except for the one person he wants.”
Given their encouragement of his journey for love, it definitely sounds like the Paradise contestants would support Rodney as the next Bachelor — and fans seem to want that, too. Many viewers took to Twitter to rally for the prospect following the Nov. 7 episode.
Of course, the next Bachelor has already been appointed. It’s Zach Shallcross from Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia’s Bachelorette season. But there’s definitely a reason to be optimistic about another Bachelor Nation appearance from Rodney, perhaps in that coveted title role — even if it’s not this season. After all, several Bachelor in Paradise contestants have gone on to take the top job of helming their own show. Recently, for example, Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams led separate journeys on The Bachelorette Season 16 after both competing on the beach before.
In the meantime, Rodney may have subtly acknowledged that, yes, he’d make a great Bachelor. He’s liked several tweets about his breakup episode so far, including one from @BarstoolFran asking why he hasn’t been cast.
In addition to the pleas for Rodney to be the next Bachelor, fans expressed frustration that he wasn’t already chosen. Given the Bachelor in Paradise filming timeline, the Rodney heartbreak would have gone down sometime this summer — well before Zach was announced as the next Bachelor. So theoretically, as many viewers pointed out, he could have been chosen for the role when it was announced this September.
Still, it’s not too late for Rodney to be in the running for the next Bachelor after Zach’s season airs in early 2023.
Get Even More From Bustle — Sign Up For The Newsletter
From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person who’s on TikTok, even if you aren’t.
More like this
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSraOeZpOkunCxza2cq6yRnruusc2tZqunlKOyunnToZxmppWtwW6uwJyfnqSfp3qnrc1mqZ6Zk6m2sLrSZquwnZWpwA%3D%3D