If Caelynn Did Leave 'Paradise' For Dean Would She Also Live In His Van?

Dean Unglert, from Rachel Lindsay's season of The Bachelorette, has taken Bachelor fans on a wild ride this summer. From showing up to Bachelor in Paradise with a mustache to dumping Caelynn Miller-Keys on her birthday, then sending himself home only to return to win her back, Dean is certainly on a journey. Part of his dramatic return this season involves asking Caelynn to leave Paradise with him on the spot, which may prompt viewers to wonder where Dean lives. The Bachelor in Paradise Season 4 alum currently lives out of his van, as he so memorably shared with Chris Harrison when he first came down to the beach this season. But prior to that, he was living in Los Angeles.

Dean's hometown, when he first joined Bachelor Nation as a contestant on Rachel's season, was listed as Venice, California. And when he joined BiP this season, he revealed to Chris that he'd given up his apartment in LA to go on a nine-month road trip visiting all the national parks in America while living out of his van. This plan for self-discovery was at the heart of self-elimination earlier this season. He and Caelynn wound up hitting it off right away and Caelynn fell hard, despite her own reservations.

She knew Dean had a ~reputation~ based on his last stint in Paradise. (For those of you who don't remember, he cultivated a deep and authentic relationship with Kristina Schulman, only to panic at the last minute and dump her for a surface-level attraction to Danielle Lombard.) Needless to say, Dean had a bit of a struggle with self-sabotage, and this season was, unfortunately, no different. Caelynn did her best to stay open-hearted and commit to Dean all the way, but he kept finding cruel ways to brush her off. From telling her she'd be "miserable" as his girlfriend to saying he wasn't ready for a relationship, Dean just couldn't get out of his own way. During one episode, he said to Caelynn:

I suck at dating. It’s challenging for me to see myself getting to a point where I’m like, ‘All right, I’m ready to settle down now.' But now I'm going to take off in this van for nine months so I can be as free as possible.

To her credit, Caelynn told Dean his excuses were a cop-out and questioned why he'd even come to Paradise if he wasn't looking for a serious relationship.

Personally, I don't think Dean is doing his image any favors by coming back and asking Caelynn to leave the show with him. Dean's primary issue has always been that he tends to make relationship decisions about himself for his partners — like deciding Caelynn would be better off without him. Returning to blow up her fledgeling relationship with Connor with an ultimatum of sorts isn't really any better. Until Dean learns that he has to let his partners draw their own conclusions about him without his "help," he's going to keep undermining his own efforts at love.

Bachelor in Paradise airs Monday and Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.