Love was not written in the stars for Michael Allio and Sierra Jackson.
The Oct. 10 episode of Bachelor in Paradise ended with one of the island's most promising couples breaking things off—and a whole lot of tension for everybody else.
From the moment they arrived on the beach, Michael Allio, 38, from Katie Thurston's season of The Bachelorette, and Sierra Jackson, 27, from Clayton Echard's season of The Bachelor, had an instant connection.
However, as their bond strengthened, Michael felt some familiar walls building back up again. Specifically, walls that he's been trying to break down as he attempts to create a new life for himself and his five-year-old son James after the death of his wife Laura in 2019.
"She's starting to create these scenarios where she's like, ‘I'd be such a good stepmom,'" Michael said to Bachelor in Paradise bartender Wells Adams. "I think it's something she would be great at. I think it's something that she cares about. But I don't know what it's like to love someone again. That part really frightens me."
Before he could tell Sierra how he was feeling, however, she brought him stargazing on the beach. Not only that, she told Michael she had purchased a constellation for Michael and his son, so they'd never have to be apart.
Not exactly an opportune time for a break-up, but Michael pushed forward.
"I can't put my finger on it, but there's something missing with us," he explained to Sierra. "I know you can feel me being guarded and I don't mean to do that. I really don't."
Michael admitted that his own grief was getting in the way of their potential, eventually telling Sierra, "I think the best thing now is space from the romantic pressure and to just be friends."
Sierra was noticeably taken aback, but ultimately told Michael she understood his decision.
Still, when she returned to the rest of the group, she informed them she was going home.
"Michael said he wants to be friends," Sierra said. "I just don't want to date anyone else and I don't want to see him date other people."
Sierra packed her bags and, after Teddi Wright made a similarly shocking exit during the Oct. 4 episode, became the second Bachelor in Paradise contestant to leave the island in as many weeks.
"I still want him, but I have to respect what he needs," Sierra said in confessional. "That's what you do whenever you care about someone."
Sierra's decision sent shockwaves through the rest of the cast, especially because her absence leaves one less rose available for the group of eligible men. Find out what goes down—and brace for the arrival of Salley Carson—when Bachelor in Paradise airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.