Aven Jones and Kylee Russell's Journey to Love: Exploring the Finale of 'Bachelor in Paradise' Season 9
Aven Jones and Kylee Russell find love on 'Bachelor in Paradise' but choose not to get engaged in the season 9 finale Discover how their journey unfolds as they leave the beach as a strong and committed couple
Kylee Russell, Aven Jones. ABC/Craig Sjodin
Aven Jones and Kylee Russell decided against getting engaged while on Bachelor in Paradise. Their relationship faced some challenges during their last days at the beach, but ultimately they did not break up during the season 9 finale on Thursday, December 7. Aven, 30, was not ready to propose to Kylee, who held on to hope that he would eventually ask her to marry him.
"I've been wanting an engagement, and I know he's the one," 26-year-old Kylee stated during her confessional. "So, I don't understand why he can't see that too. I'm not sure what else I can do."
The palpable tension between Kylee and Aven was evident as they debated their future, making little progress. Aven couldn't comprehend why an engagement was necessary to solidify their already "really good" relationship.
"I truly believe in Paradise, but I struggle to apply the same principles in the real world. I don't want this to be a dealbreaker for our relationship. I can't bear to lose her over a fling in Paradise," Aven shared in his confessional. "If that's the direction our conversation takes, I'll be forced to make a difficult decision because I don't have a solution to this problem. I don't know where to go from here."
Ultimately, Aven and Kylee both acknowledged that they were falling in love and didn't want to let each other go. As a result, they decided to leave the beach together.
Kylee and Aven were contestants on previous seasons of popular reality dating shows. The pair eventually found romance during a summer spent together in Mexico, after initially showing interest in each other through some light social media flirting. Despite Kylee's initial pursuit of a relationship with another contestant, Aven's arrival changed the game and solidified their romance. As their on-screen connection grew, Aven took to social media to address critics who found their storyline uninteresting, stating that he was unapologetically being a normal, calm human being.
Shortly after, Aven became entangled in online drama involving Kylee and Olivia Lewis. Olivia accused Kylee of sabotaging her relationship with John Henry Spurlock by persuading Kat Izzo to pursue him. In a November tweet, Olivia wrote, "Whenever Will shows interest in me and kisses me, Kylee interferes. And when John Henry shows interest in me and we are together, Kylee encourages Kat to interfere. Anyone else seeing a pattern?"
Kylee retorted, "I don't owe you anything. I am loyal to my true friends. Have a good night." This prompted Olivia to accuse Kylee of trying to resolve their conflict privately. "Is that why you called me twice? To say that? Or were you planning to put on a façade and pretend that's not what happened?" Olivia questioned. In response, Kylee said, "I wasn't calling to justify myself... I was calling to tell you to stop talking about me. Instead, you're on Twitter and ignoring my calls."
Amidst the exchange of comments, Aven stepped in to support Kylee. "When someone gets eliminated on the first night, they suddenly believe they can say whatever they want," he wrote, referring to Zach's decision to send Olivia home during the initial rose ceremony of his season.
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When Olivia criticized Aven's response as "boring" and mentioned that she didn't realize "you had to last longer than the first night to speak honestly," Aven fired back, "You're actually holding someone else responsible for your own unsuccessful relationships that were your own doing."
Aven later told a fan via Instagram that he “apologized” to Olivia for his comments, adding, “It was very out of character and I’m sorry.”
