Jonathon Johnson was part of a Bachelor Nation first on last week’s episode of Bachelor in Paradise. The 28-year-old accepted a rose from 67-year-old Golden cast member April Kirkwood at the third rose ceremony.
However, taking April’s rose meant that an extra Golden male contestant would be going home, and Jonathon admitted to Swooon that that made him hesitant about sticking around himself.
“I have such a love for the Goldens, I didn’t feel fully right taking [the rose],” Jonathon shared. “You can hear me ask her when I’m up there, I’m like, ‘Are you SURE?’ Because in my mind, I knew that takes away form potentially one of the Golden men getting their chance. I didn’t want to sit with the weight of being like, ‘Damn, did I just take it from one of them?’”
Jonathon added that April “didn’t see it like that,” because she just wanted to give her rose to a “kid” who had “such good intentions.” Now that he’s at peace with his decision, he said he “feels great about it,” though.
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April gave Jonathon the rose so he could “have another opportunity to be valued for what other people may not see but I do.” Although there was some flirty behavior between them in Costa Rica, Jonathon stressed that there was never anything romantic going on.
“Her and I made it very clear that it was purely friendly,” he explained. “I think she liked to flirt with me, and I would flirt back in, like, a playful way. It was never, like, this is going to happen kind of a thing. But we always played with the idea that it’s just for fun.”
Still, he had no idea that getting April’s rose was even an option. “I thought Goldens were in their lane, and we were in our lane,” Jonathon said. “When all the younger people gave out their roses, I was like, ‘Alright, this is my time to go.’ And I was completely fine with it.” He thought April would give her rose to Jack [Lencioni], whom she’d kissed earlier in the week.
“When she said my name, I was thoroughly shook,” Jonathon shared. “I don’t know. You can see it on everybody else’s face. We’re like, ‘What the hell? Is this possible? Are we allowed to do this?’ And Jesse [Palmer] let it happen, so I’m like, ‘Okay, guess so!’”
Now, Jonathon has a chance to build a connection with one of the new women who will arrive. Despite already being four weeks in, he said he was “hopeful” that it could still work for him at this point. “I wanted to do my best with this second chance that April gave me,” he confirmed.
