Bachelor in Paradise's Brendan Morais is having a change of heart.
After appearing to relish in the drama that he caused this week on the ABC dating show through his relationship with Pieper James, the standout from Tayshia Adams' season of The Bachelorette is finally apologizing.
Amid the Paradise drama that involved Pieper arriving and quickly resuming her apparent pre-show romance with Brendan, leaving Natasha Parker feeling betrayed, Brendan posted a photo of himself in a pool on Monday, Sept. 6, with the caption, "Here for the wrong reasons," accompanied by a smirking emoji.
On Wednesday, Sept. 8, Brendan deleted the photo and shared a lengthy explanation to his Instagram Story. "After taking time to begin to process the events that unfolded over the past few days, I have realized I was wrong on so many different levels," he wrote. "First of all I removed my last post from my feed. I posted it before the episode aired and had no idea the magnitude of hurt that I caused."
He continued, "My approach to many things in life is sarcasm. In this instance with regard to my post, I was completely insensitive. Most importantly I apologize to you Natasha. I hurt you. I am deeply sorry for doing so. I understand that the damage is already done and all I can do going forward is acknowledge the error of my ways."
In his message, Brendan did not give specific details about the nature of his and Pieper's pre-Paradise relationship, simply referring to himself and Pieper as having "misunderstandings" prior to the show. He went on to say that any anger over the way his cast members were treated should be directed at himself and not at Pieper.
"For those of you that felt my actions triggered certain feelings and emotions I am truly sorry," he wrote. "Lastly, despite the fact that Pieper and I had misunderstandings going into paradise (and I can't stress this enough) – if you feel the need to express disdain for the situation, please do so at my expense. I am completely at fault. A full statement and apology will follow."
There is certainly a lengthy list of reasons why viewers and contestants alike were upset with Brendan after Monday's episode, which showed Natasha feeling Brendan had misled her in order to stay on the beach until Pieper's arrival.
On Monday's episode, after he and Pieper gave Natasha conflicting details about how many times they had hung out together before the show, Brendan insulted Natasha by telling her she didn't have any "prospects" with any of the guys besides himself. He also earned ire on social media for telling Natasha she had "selective hearing."
During that episode, Brendan and Pieper were heard bragging about their social media platforms. This has led viewers to unfollow Brendan in droves, as he is down by well over 50,000 Instagram followers from the start of the week.
For her part, Natasha has yet to respond publicly to Brendan's apology, but she said in Instagram Story footage posted earlier on Wednesday that Monday's episode made her feel "stupid" and "used." She added she felt validated by fans' "love and support."
Meanwhile, Pieper shared an Instagram photo of herself on Monday with the caption, "All's fair in love and war," leading to criticism in her comments section. The caption has since been deleted.