Bachelor in Paradise’s April and Jonathon Break Down That Rose Ceremony Shocker, More Burning Questions (Exclusive)

Bachelor in Paradise viewers are still reeling over Golden Bachelor alum April Kirkwood’s decision to give Bachelorette alum Jonathon Johnson a rose.

“I love April so much,” Jonathon, 28, told Us Weekly on Thursday, July 24, adding that the Goldens “saved Paradise for me” after several failed connections with traditional Bachelor alums.

“I’d been friend zoned [by Alexe Godin] and then I had a little tiff with Jill [Chin] — I saw her as more of a friend and we had to communicate that and hash that out — and after the conversation, I was feeling really defeated,” Jonathon said. “I genuinely wanted to go home and I’d made that very clear. That rose ceremony, [I thought], ‘Let’s go out on a bang.’ … I’m gonna go out on a high note and I’m gonna be happy for every single person. But then, obviously, April pulled me for a chat and she just wanted to check in.”

April, 67, had previously been exploring a few connections of her own, including with Golden Bachelorette alum Jack Lencioni.

“She’s like, ‘Hey, how you feeling?’ I was like, ‘Oh, I’m, I’m probably gonna go home. Nobody’s here for me. It’s my time to get outta here,’” Jonathon recalled. “The connection I made with her and the rest of the Goldens, they heard my story and what I was looking for and they really believed that somebody could come in that answered that, like, desire. [April said], ‘I love you so much. I see what you want and what you’re here for. I wanna make sure that you give it a full try.’ That episode was an emotional roller-coaster for me.”

Keep reading for more from both Jonathon and April on that BiP twist:

Did April Invite Jonathon to Her Room on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’?

While April was seemingly heard telling Jonathon where her room was in the Costa Rican hotel on the July 15 episode, April clarified to Us that she “did not say what he heard.” April was actually making a Peter Pan reference that went over his head.

“I’m a fairy! So every night when I say goodbye to my kids or say goodnight, I say, ‘Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning,”” she recalled, referring to the directions to Neverland in the Disney story.

Why Did April Give Jonathon Her Rose on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’?

“Jonathon resembles Ralph, the man I was in love with for 22 years. [When I reflected], like, ‘What was I thinking? He looks like Ralph! He’s tiny and cute and well dressed.’ I saw different things in him than the younger women did,” April told Us.

While Jonathon acknowledged that the show introduced the idea that April’s rose was up for grabs on the episode prior, he did not see it coming at all. “They kind of teased it in the episode before, like, ‘Oh, maybe, April’s rose.’ Not once did I actually think about going for [April’s rose]. I didn’t know that was a possibility,” he said.

When April called his name, he thought she was going to give him “a message” of support and then pick Jack. “She goes, ‘No, no, you.’ I was shook to my core. I was up there shaking. I didn’t know, like, how to feel at that point,” he told Us.

April noted that she was going to pick Jack, 69, before she changed her mind.

“Jack came to me after I had that little interaction with Kim [Buike], and he did kind of save me. I really appreciated it. I think he was expecting the rose, which I planned on,” she told Us. “And then when I stood on the little rafters and, at that point in the show, no one had shown up to touch my heart. I’m not hunting for someone to hang with. I want to get weak in the knees and dizzy. I’m taking this very seriously.”

April said she went into guidance counselor mode and thought, “This kid needs another chance.”

After April called Jonathon’s name, “everybody went crazy,” she told Us.

“Jesse, you didn’t see him off the side, [his jaw dropped]. ‘’Now what are we gonna do? Are we gonna shoot this again? What’s gonna happen?’” April recalled.”I looked at Kat [Izzo] — I used her as a cue ’cause she’s strong like I am — to get the feeling of what the other young girls think. So I was kind of looking like, ‘Am I a mess? Are you guys gonna be mad at me?’ And then my [Golden] girls. Oh my gosh.”

The other women were, indeed, a little upset with April because giving her rose to Jonathon meant that three Golden men were sent home, eliminating some of their options. “I’m terrible at math. There’s no math in the soul,” she told Us. “Everyone was upset a little bit and I realized that and I was regretful. But if I had to do it all again, I don’t know what I would do.”

Are April and Jonathon an Age-Gap Romance on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’?

Jonathon told Us that he never felt like accepting a rose from April implied that there was any romantic connection between the pair.

“It was purely friendly. During our conversation, she goes, ‘If I was younger, I would jump your bones,’” he recalled, adding that he asked if she meant “spiritually” and she said yes. “It was always a playful, friendly relationship. There was never anything actually romantic to it.”