The Bachelorette alum Sam McKinney has revealed the one bachelorette he had his eye on walking into Bachelor in Paradise.
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"Bachelor Happy Hour" co-host Serena Pitt asked Sam to share which women were at the top of his list when it came to dating in Paradise during the Tuesday, July 1 episode of her podcast, which she co-hosts with husband Joe Amabile.
"Okay, so there was only one, and it was Alli Jo from Grant's season," Sam revealed.
Sam was referring to Alli Jo Hinkes, a 30-year-old boxing trainer from Manalapan, NJ, who didn't make it very far on Grant Ellis' The Bachelor season.
"After my season of The Bachelorette, I didn't reach out to anybody because you don't know what people think about you. Some people can see it's reality TV, but there are some people who can't see past that and think, 'This guy is the world's biggest piece of sh-t,'" Sam said.
"And if I saw what you saw on TV, I would agree with you. I understand it, but that's also not me."
Sam elaborated, "But [Alli Jo] was somebody who -- we spoke a little bit before Paradise and she was just super sweet and stuff. I thought, 'That would be a great girl to go meet out there.'"
Serena said she "could see" Sam and Alli Jo together, but Joe admitted, "Really? I can't."
"That's not what I would've [predicted]," Joe confessed. "She's seems like a feisty New Jersey girl and you are..."
"Do you picture him with a sweet southern belle?" Serena interjected.
"I mean, that just makes a little more sense to me," Joe replied.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWJoe explained to Sam, "Because you are from South Carolina, or you live in South Carolina, and you have more of a mellow tone to you. But hey, opposites attract!"
Sam laughed and pointed out, "People don't know me as well as they think they do."
"And honestly, the feistiness was something that I liked," Sam revealed.
"Honestly, I want somebody who can -- usually I stay in my place about 90 percent of the time. But if I ever decide to wander off the beaten path, I need somebody who will smack me with a stick and say, 'Hey! Straighten up a little bit!'"
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Sam acknowledged how there's "a balance" in a relationship that he desires.
"I want my partner to have her voice and understand that what she says is important, whether that's telling me to straighten up or hold her hand or whatever it is," Sam shared.
"It's just one of those things where I want the feistiness because that's also me to an extent."
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"I expected some people would embrace me and some people would hold me at an arm's length because they didn't know what to expect," Sam noted.
"And I expected the other group of people to be like, 'F-ck this guy right here. This guy sucks.' And I understand it. I really do."
But Sam said the cast was "super warm and welcoming," adding, "I think it will be good this time around."
Bachelor in Paradise is set to premiere Monday, July 7 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
Both Alli Jo and Sam probably walked into Bachelor in Paradise hoping for a redemption edit.
Alli Jo memorably got caught up in drama with Zoe McGrady on The Bachelor's 29th season, which aired earlier this year on ABC.
"It really sucks. It sucks to feel rejected when you put yourself out there and when someone is asking you to be vulnerable, and I had done just that," Alli Jo cried in her final words on the show.
"I thought I was building a connection with him; obviously he didn't see it. But it really sucks."
Grant eliminated Alli Jo during the third Rose Ceremony of his season, but the outspoken and spunky bachelorette left The Bachelor with a new best friend in Juliana Pasquarosa, who is now Grant's ex-fiancee.
For Sam's part, he and Jenn had a hot and heavy physical connection on The Bachelorette's 21st season last year, and Sam professed his love very early on, which rubbed Jenn's other bachelors the wrong way.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
When Jenn pressed Sam for specifics on why he loved her, Sam was "dismissive," according to Jenn, and spoke in generalities about appreciating her and wanting "a ferocious" love.
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Jenn ultimately eliminated Sam before the sixth Rose Ceremony of the season, and Sam, capping off his portrayal as a villain, vented in his final words: "The energy that [Jenn] brought was very dull. It's not my fault."
Jenn later chose to get engaged to Devin Strader on The Bachelorette's Season 21 finale, but they broke up before the After the Final Rose special aired on ABC.
Jenn had claimed that Devin slowly ghosted her and then dumped her in a brief phone call, and Devin went on to release personal text messages with Jenn on social media in attempt to share his "truth" and side of the story.
Bachelor in Paradise bartender Wells Adams recently admitted he was "rooting" for Sam to have a great time in Paradise.
"Yes, he said say 'make the main thing, the main thing' and he had a bunch of catch phrases where we were like, 'Dude, where did you get these from, a Cracker Jack box?' which I get, and then he went after Devin," Wells said on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
"[But Sam] was kind of right about Devin! He wasn't wrong, and I feel like he got roasted for kind of being right."
Wells added, "And no one is coming to Paradise because everything worked out on the last show, right? It's a redemptive story for everyone."
Wells said of Sam as a result: "I think he deserves a little bit of, like, a different experience because, yeah, I don't know if I think he was wrong!"
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
