Genevieve & Shanae's Friendship Is Truly The Biggest Plot Twist On BIP
Put these memes in the history books.
Arguably the most surprising relationship of Bachelor In Paradise Season 8 hasn’t been a romance at all. Instead, it’s the friendship between Genevieve Parisi and Shanae Ankney that has caught BIP fans off guard. It may be the plot twist no one expected, but it’s safe to say lots of folks on Twitter are here for it anyway.
If you watched Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor, you’ll remember that these two were the opposite of friends at first. Genevieve and Shanae disliked each other a lot — so much so that they ended up on the dreaded 2-on-1 date, which is famously reserved for contestants who don’t get along. Genevieve won out on that day when Shane got sent home by Clayton, but Shanae showed up ready for revenge at the “Women Tell All” a few weeks later. She accused Genevieve of hooking up with Aaron Clancy soon after her time on The Bachelor, which Genevieve denied. “I met him at a bar,” Genevieve said at the time. “I didn’t even kiss him.”
Even right before Bachelor In Paradise began airing, it wasn’t clear if these two had made up. “We hadn’t talked at all,” Genevieve said on the Click Bait With Bachelor Nation podcast about her reunion with Shanae on the beach. “All I kept saying was that I wanted a genuine apology from Shanae. I didn’t want the drama; I don’t want to be involved in Shrimpgate. I don’t want a Shrimpgate 2.0. I just didn’t want that.”
Fast-forward to a few weeks in, and Genevieve and Shanae got the chance to redo their joint date — only this time, it was a real double date, with Genevieve going with Aaron and Shanae going with Aaron’s bestie, James Bonsall. To everyone’s surprise, the foursome had a fantastic time togehter, and although Shanae and James’ romance didn’t last, her friendship with Genevieve did.
On the Oct. 24 episode, Genevieve and Shanae’s friendship was on full display when they hit the bar and got into some silly shenanigans together. Twitter has a lot to say about their adorably ridiculous friendship montage.
Even Genevieve herself weighed in, comparing her friendship with Shanae to James and Aaron’s iconic bromance, and she wasn’t alone.
Bachelor In Paradise continues Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
