Bachelor in Paradise alums Alli Jo Hinkes and Sam McKinney have taken their relationship to the next level.

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Alli Jo revealed in a Monday, April 27 Instagram post that she brought Sam home to Marlboro, NJ, to meet her family.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

"Crazy to think a year ago today we were leaving to film Bachelor in Paradise... Fast forward to exactly a year later, I finally got my hometown date," Alli Jo captioned a carousel of photos of the happy couple spending time together in New Jersey.

According to the photos, Alli Jo and Sam went out to multiple restaurants and played card games at home. Sam also apparently spent quality time with Alli Jo's family and hometown friends.

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"It's funny how timing and how life works out. What's not funny is NJ being 40 degrees and raining in April," Alli Jo wrote in her post.

At the end of Alli Jo's carousel, she posted a video of Sam walking in the rain, appearing to be very cold.

"When you wait to bring your bf back home for *spring,*" she quipped in an image.

Alli Jo also opened up about how she had "such a good feeling" about what she "thought was going to be" heading into Bachelor in Paradise's tenth season, which had begun filming in April 2025 and premiered on ABC in July 2025.

"I remember being so excited to hopefully meet you," Alli Jo wrote to Sam.


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"Till this day I'm so disappointed in how that experience played out to be. Because that's exactly how I felt, played. BUT on the other hand, it led me to meeting you in real time, in real life, writing our own real story."

The Bachelor alum concluded, "And as we know, nothings ever easy, but easy isn't worth having."

In addition to Alli Jo's photos and video of Sam, she also posted screenshots of her first DM exchange with her boyfriend on Instagram.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

Alli Jo sent Sam a message on May 8, 2025 that read, "Hey you. Since I didn't [get] to tell you in person, I'm just gunna tell ya now..part of the reason I came to paradise was because I wanted to have the chance to meet you."

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"When they told me I was coming in with a date card last week, I had every intention of asking you to go and was excited for that opportunity," she continued.

"As soon as I got to the beach, [I] was told you left just hours before."

Sam, in reply, told Alli Jo that she was the only name he had dropped to producers in terms of the people he wanted to meet in Paradise.

In early January, Alli Jo and Sam revealed their moving plans for 2026.

Alli Jo and Sam, who went Instagram official in July 2025, were dating long distance at the time, with Alli Jo in Florida and Sam in South Carolina.


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When asked if they planned to move to the same state or into the same household this year, Alli Jo replied on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast that she and Sam talked about it "really often."

Alli Jo shared at the time, "I still have my lease in Fort Lauderdale. See, this is why I needed the show, Bachelor in Paradise, to win the money. I could've just broken my lease!"

Alli Jo teased, however, that 2026 has "a lot in store" for them.

"Yeah, I think whenever her lease ends, I own my house here in South Carolina, but I think the long goal is to live in Florida," Sam chimed in, adding how he dislikes the weather in South Carolina during the colder months.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)


While the pair's ultimate goal is to end up in Florida, Sam shared, "But I think the short-term goal is that she'll probably make her way to South Carolina for a little bit."

Sam continued, "We'll live together, save some money, and then go buy a home that we can both see ourselves living in and raising a family in down in Florida."

Until they close the distance gap, Alli Jo and Sam said they were going to continue seeing each other "every other weekend" while "being intentional" with all of their conversations.

After meeting for the first time face to face in June 2025, Sam and Alli Jo became an official couple the third time they hung out, when she had flown to South Carolina to meet his entire family.

When the pair went public with their romance in July 2025, Sam posted photos with Alli Jo at a bar, and in one of the pictures, Alli Jo was rocking a hat that displayed Sam's famous slogan "Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing."

Sam tagged Alli Jo, who commented on the post, "Didn't need a beach to find my paradise. Main thing energy baby!"


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Sam previously said on "Bachelor Happy Hour" that he wanted a feisty woman who would put him in his place whenever necessary.

On Bachelor in Paradise's tenth season, Sam went on a date with Jess Edwards but she decided to pursue a romance with Spencer Conley instead.

And Alli Jo was interested in Dale Moss, but he chose to continue wooing Katherine "Kat" Izzo.

Both Alli Jo and Sam were probably hoping for a redemption edit on Bachelor in Paradise, but their journeys in Costa Rica were short-lived.

Sam -- who had competed on Jenn Tran's The Bachelorette season in 2024 -- was eliminated during the first Rose Ceremony of Bachelor in Paradise's tenth season.

And Alli Jo -- who had appeared on Grant Ellis' The Bachelor season -- was rejected at the second Rose Ceremony of Paradise last year.


RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.