The couple got back together at Tuesday's 'BiP' finale, following their brutal breakup on the beach.
John Paul Jones and Tayshia Adams are back together!
The couple reunited on Tuesday's season finale of Bachelor in Paradise, following their brutal breakup on the beach. Though they were perhaps the most unlikely couple on the show, Adams told ET that she just couldn't move on from the 24-year-old financial analyst (yes, that's JPJ's real job).
"Every time I thought about Paradise or spoke about Paradise with my family and friends, I honestly could not stop smiling and grinning ear to ear because of this guy. So, at that point, I was just like, 'You know what? We have something really special,'" Tayshia explained to ET's Lauren Zima at the reunion taping.
"That doesn't happen all the time. Look at him. It doesn’t happen all the time," she repeated. "I just wanted to give it a chance on our terms."
In order for the pair to get back together, JPJ first had to get over their devastating breakup. Adams told him she couldn't see them working long-term, right after he professed his love for her.
"There were a few nights of weeping, for sure," he confessed of the aftermath of their split. "It was tough."
"Definitely [I was heartbroken]. Paradise was just the most emotionally traumatic experience I've ever been through, and that just kind of compounded everything," JPJ shared. "I just tried to throw myself back into work and get over it as quickly as possible, but as soon as she walked in my front door [three weeks later], the chemistry just kind of rekindled things and we just went from there."
The Bachelorette fan-favorite says he doesn't hold Adams' initial rejection against her. "I get it. I mean, she has every right to feel the way she felt at the time and I think what she did was the most mature thing to do," he offered.
JPJ is still "absolutely" in love with Adams -- and sees her as his possible wife and mother of his kids -- but she's "taking it day by day." "I think we'll get there. But until then, I'm just happy with him right now," she said.
For now, Adams and JPJ are focused on building their relationship from different coasts. She's in California, while he's still on the East Coast.
"[We're doing] a lot of FaceTime, FaceTime every day. I think we sort of agreed to try to see each other twice a month," JPJ shared.
Right now we are doing long distance, so the iPhone is our best friend," Adams agreed.
Now that he's found his lady, JPJ says he's officially done with reality TV (not that he was particularly into it, to begin with).
"I think I got what I needed to out of it," he told ET. "I never would've thought I ever would've done an experience like this. This was never a goal of mine, but I went on the show to potentially find, you know, a love interest, and I got just that."
"[Tayshia] is just a really good person and she constantly strives to better herself and the people around her. She has very ambitious goals and I'm attracted to that," he gushed of his girlfriend, hinting that he's "working on" an actual proposal after that fake-out during the reunion.
While JPJ and Tayshia reconciled during Tuesday's episode, he didn't find common ground with Derek Peth -- or Krystal Nielson and Chris Randone, whose wedding became the setting for his fight with Peth.
JPJ told ET that he didn't offer the couple an apology for his behavior at their wedding because he hasn't "really thought about it."
"It's unfortunate it that it happened at their wedding, but I think just because it's Paradise I think something would have unfolded you know regardless," he said.
Nielson shared with ET that she would have liked an apology, but is trying be "understanding" of JPJ's emotions. "I was wondering if John would want to offer something like a condolence or something. I wasn't expecting it and it's OK that it didn't happen," she said. "When he watches back and sees that, I'm sure he'll question his actions and hope that he can become better for it. So, I don't wanna hold it against him. The past is the past, so it's all good."
"Obviously it would be nice, but it's not like we were sitting there hoping [for an apology]," Randone added. "Also time has passed, so it's kind of in history, but when you see it happen, you're just like, 'Wow, OK.' It was a little intense, but it's OK."
JPJ eventually did apologize for the situation -- on Instagram and to ET's cameras. "Sorry Chris and Krystal if I ruined your special day. I didn't mean anything by it," JPJ shared.
There's still bad blood with Peth, however. The New York-based banker takes JPJ's allegations about him seriously. "Anybody who would take it upon themselves to fabricate things like that about someone is not the kind of person I would associate with," Peth said. "So no, John will never be a part of my life."
Tuesday's season finale of Paradise saw three engagements, between Hannah Godwin and Dylan Barbour, Demi Burnett and Kristian Haggerty, and Katie Morton and Chris Bukowski. See more in the video below.
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