What Happened at 'Bachelor in Paradise'

Millions of viewers were anxiously awaiting the premiere of Bachelor in Paradise, but DeMario Jackson was personally invested in how the TV saga would play out.

Speaking candidly to The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson says he feels “relieved” now that the ABC summer spinoff series has addressed the controversy that featured him and fellow contestant, Corinne Olympios, in the leading roles off-camera for nearly two months this summer.

“I think people wanted it to be something different,” Jackson, 30, who is black, says of his on-set encounter with Olympios, 25, a white contestant. “They wanted the angry black guy and this little, innocent white girl. But it wasn’t that.”

The moment in question was a taped sexual encounter between the two contestants, who had both been drinking, that occurred in the hot tub at the show’s Sayulita, Mexico, resort. A producer, who according to Jackson never saw the moment or the footage, filed a misconduct allegation, forcing producers Warner Bros. Television to suspend production to investigate. A second producer later filed a similar complaint. After nearly two weeks, where an outside firm watched all footage and interviewed the entire cast and crew, WBTV concluded there was no wrongdoing and the show resumed filming, this time without Jackson or Olympios.

Yes. In the first episode, the minute I walked up and everyone was scolding me, Alexis grabbed my hand and said, “Lets get a drink.” Alexis and I had this little flirtation thing going. Early off the bat, she said, “You’re dope, I’m dope, let’s just give each other our roses.” I said, “Great.” Then Corinne came up, and her and I had our day and we went to the pool, but after that I came back and started hanging out with Alexis, and the next morning when Alexis and I were eating breakfast, Corinne came up somewhat awkwardly and it was dope that they put that in there because it showed the aftermath and how we were all eating breakfast.

When the producers shut it down, at what point did you understand that you were involved?

They told me a “third-party person filed a complaint about you and Corinne’s sexual activity in the pool.” I’m thinking, ““What the fuck?” I asked if they talked to Corinne, and they said she said everything is cool. I asked, “If she said everything is cool, and I said everything is cool, then why are we having this conversation?” They said it was protocol. I asked if the producer saw the tape and he said he did, and when I asked what the tape showed he said the tape was fine. That’s why I’ve said “show the tape, show the tape” this whole time. I made a T-shirt. When have you ever seen somebody who really, really, really wanted footage to be shown like that? Show the tape, please.

What were you happy viewers did get to see?

The thing I wanted people to see is that we were very coherent and lucid and having fun. We were having conversations and swimming around. We were two homies having fun. Even the next day. We have mutual friends and she lives in L.A., I thought I’d leave here with a new homie. And then all of a sudden, I’m in the middle of a sex scandal.

Olympios has said that she doesn’t remember much from that night. Do you?

I recall everything. I remember what I wore to school the first day of third grade. (Laughs.)

The cast spoke about consent on Tuesday’s episode and the show put in place some rules behind the scenes, where the cast needed to make their consent clear. In your opinion, was your hookup with Olympios consensual, on both ends?

It was 100 percent consensual. She hopped in my arms, she pulled me into the pool. You’ve seen that with your own eyes. I think people wanted it to be something different. They wanted the angry black guy and this little, innocent white girl. But it wasn’t. Then it was like, “Oh, shit. Ok, damn.” For months the media will drag your name through the mud. And the moment it’s no longer a story, that’s it. The media can put “alleged” from a source and put anything you want about a person. It sucks. Who raised these people? I read some things from a “source” where I thought, “Wow, this is some low shit.” Especially when you go back and watch the video. You think, “This is it?”

The cast agreed that race played a part in this. How do you feel race motivated the scandal and what it became?

If I would have been Alex or Derek [Peth, two white contestants], we wouldn’t even be having this conversation, I would probably be engaged to Alexis right now. If anyone argues, tell them to Google “Charlottesville.” That’s the world we live in. Look who our president is. Just tell them to look up what Trump said. It’s always the white guy who says race didn’t play a factor. Trust me, there were four black people on that entire island, three castmates and one producer. Luckily that producer followed me over [to the pool with Corinne] because I gave him the look. He followed me over with cameras.

Did that producer, an eyewitness, vouch for you throughout all of this?

Yes, 100 percent.

What do you think would have happened if Olympios had been a black contestant?

This wouldn’t have been a story. We wouldn’t even be having this discussion at all. Right now, you would just be watching Paradise and saying, “DeMario’s whistle is so annoying!” The minute you saw a black man and a white woman’s face. I had black America who hated me because I’m a sellout with a white girl. And I had white America calling me the N-word and telling me to “go back to Africa.” And they were slut-shaming Corinne, which sucked. For me, I’m just sitting here thinking, “Wow. Our world.” The human race continues to let me down.