Bachelor in Paradise star Jonathon Johnson has weighed in on Jeremy Simon's choice to string Bailey Taylor Brown along when he clearly preferred Susie Evans.
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On Bachelor in Paradise's tenth season, Jeremy and Bailey seemed to be solid until Andrew Spencer entered the scene and took Bailey on a date.
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While Bailey was testing the dating waters, Jeremy picked up a phone and called Susie -- whom he regretfully had eliminated at the prior Rose Ceremony -- and begged her to come back, but Susie declined.
Jeremy continued to date Bailey without ever telling her about the secret phone call, and, to make matters worse, the latest episode showed Jeremy still pining for Susie.
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"What's your read on Jeremy?" Nick asked Jonathon during the Tuesday, July 29 episode of "The Viall Files" podcast.
"The guys seem to like him. He seems like a bro, but yeah, he's had a couple of tough moments this season, from confessing his love to Susie and then not telling Bailey about it... It sounded like Jeremy said he would propose to Susie if she came back."
While Nick acknowledged clever editing was probably in play, he added, "[Jeremy] definitely poured his heart out to Susie and then tried to forget it ever happened."
Jonathon revealed that "he was one of the last" people to figure out that Jeremy had begged for Susie to come back to Paradise behind Bailey's back.
"Do you think he's a genuine guy?" Nick asked.
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"I think it's tough. I was very isolated from a lot of the stuff for most of the show because I was the odd man out. A lot of the couples just kind of meshed, and they'd hang out in the pool together and do a bunch of things together," Jonathon explained.
Jonathon therefore said he didn't learn about Jeremy's betrayal until "further down the road."
"As far as Jeremy as a friend, I love Jeremy. I think he's a great friend to me -- a good guy and he's got a great heart," Jonathon said.
"But as far as watching this back, I think there are things he'd probably do differently as well. But I don't know how to go about that differently."
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Jonathon explained that as Jeremy's friend, he wanted to give Jeremy an opportunity to "own up to it" and tell Bailey "straight up" how he felt.
"I think once it happened, somebody should've told him, 'Hey, you need to go nip this in the ass now and just let her know before it blows up,'" Jeremy said.
When asked if Jeremy was using Bailey to stay on the show so he could wait for new arrivals, Jonathon replied, "That's actually a great question."
Jonathon continued, "Throughout the filming of it, Bailey and I had flirted a little bit on and off, too... But it reached a point where I was like, 'I'm not even going to entertain this anymore because I love to see my friend happy,' and any time [Jeremy] was with her, he was genuinely giddy happy."
Jonathon pointed out how Jeremy is "a pretty stoic guy" and Bailey brought out a different side of him.
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"He's like, 'Yeah, pretty cool,' all the time, but when he was with her, it was genuine and it was cute," Jonathon recalled.
"So I was like, 'You know what? I'm never going to try to get in the way of this. He is just phenomenally happy with her.'"
Jonathon speculated that Jeremy was keeping his unresolved feelings for Susie close to his chest so that he wouldn't lose Bailey.
"I think part of it was fear, like he was like, 'I don't want to ruin this great thing that I have going on,'" Jonathon reasoned.
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But Jonathon insisted that Bailey "had a right to know" the truth.
On the Monday, July 28 episode of Bachelor in Paradise, Jeremy was shown telling Brian Autz about his lingering feelings for Susie.
"[Bailey] is a great girl, but I f-cked up not giving Susie the rose," Jeremy told Brian.
"You think so?" Brian asked.
"Personally, I think so," Jeremy confessed.
Jeremy also let Brian know that he had called Susie on the phone and asked her for another chance.
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Jeremy explained to the cameras how he felt like an idiot for wasting an opportunity with Susie and he kept thinking about what a life might look like with her outside of the show.
"If she came back, I would give Susie the rose, and I'll just, like, propose to her on the spot. Nah, I'm kidding," Jeremy confided in Brian.
Meanwhile, Alexe Godin was shown asking Bailey in their hotel room if she'd be willing to get engaged at the end of filming, and Bailey replied, "Yes."
Bailey told Alexe that she felt a "very strong" emotional connection with Jeremy.
"Have you said the 'L' word yet?" Alexe asked Bailey.
"No, but I would," Bailey replied.
Brian said the fact Jeremy was lying to Bailey put a bad taste in his mouth because this news would devastate Bailey.
"I'm friends with Jeremy, but Bailey needs to know," Brian told the cameras, suggesting he was about to blow things up.
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