The Jenna Cooper Refresher You Need For Bachelor In Paradise

In the first episodes of Bachelor In Paradise season 5, some fun new Bachelor Nation couples are clearly starting to take form. Chief among them, shockingly, is the pairing of Bachelorette not-quite villain Jordan Kimball and Bachelor punching bag Annaliese Puccini. On Monday night’s “Week 2, Part 1,” Kimball even gave Puccini a massive stuffed toy dog as a sweet nod to her overly publicized fear of canines. “We have a pet now, so, that’s important,” Kimball joked to Puccini, suggesting he’s in this for the long haul.

But, all of this lovey-dovey optimism may be dashed in “Week 2, Part 2” with the entrance of one Bachelor season 22 castaway, Jenna Cooper. Previews for the rest of the season suggest Cooper may create a love triangle for Paradise’s latest faux pooch parents. Considering the fact that she exited Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s season more than half a year ago, viewers likely need a Jenna Cooper refresher.

The only thing you truly need to remember about Cooper, who was eliminated during the same episode as season villain Krystal Nielson with “Week 6’s” Paris trip, is that she served as the small amount of comic relief in Arie’s slog of a trainwreck season.

If you’re going to recall anything about Cooper's inaugural Bachelor run, it will be one of two truly standout moments: the time she straddled Old Pillow Lips during a steamy pre-rose ceremony makeout session, or the time she jokingly pledged to drink Luyendyk’s urine. The former scene came during “Week 3,” as none other than Annaliese Puccini panicked over the fact Luyendyk wouldn’t kiss her, and the latter popped up during the “Week 4” survivalist group date that spawned season 22’s “glam shaming” drama. During that aforementioned, gown-clad makeout, Cooper very smartly told Kissing Bandit Arie, “I’m all of the things that you’re looking for.”

Cooper was great at being a Bachelor contestant.

While some women would apologize for being so openly silly or sexual in front of a national audience, the Indiana native wasn’t shamed into doing so. Instead, she told her local outlet News Observer, “I don’t regret anything.” Yes, even when the Twitter bullies came calling.

“I was just as surprised as everybody else — what was seen [on The Bachelor], certain things that were shown, [were] only the crazy parts of me,” Cooper continued after Luyendyk sent her home. “And I was like, you know what? I’m gonna go with it. So actually I’m very entertained by what Twitter trolls are saying. It’s actually really funny.”

Interestingly, it seems Cooper’s opinion on Bachelor In Paradise has changed since she first wrapped Luyendyk’s’s season. Fresh off of her exit, she told the Observer, “I feel like Bachelor In Paradise isn’t necessarily my scene. It could be fun, though. It could be another chance to show the world another side of me.”

Now, just over six months later, she stars in a Paradise teaser trailer proclaiming, “It’s about to get coconuts,” while wearing a two-piece millennial pink romper, proving she still knows exactly how to be a top-shelf Bachelor Nation contestant.

While the pre-episode trailer suggests Cooper and Kimball will go on a single very romantic one-on-one date in “Week 2, Part 2,” the previously released full-season preview gives viewers a lot more information.

In that video, we find out Kimball’s Bachelorette rival David Ravitz will recognize the male model's connection with Cooper and attempt to worm his way into creating a love triangle. “There’s definitely some enjoyment in the fact I get to ruin Jordan’s summer,” Ravitz says in a talking head interview. His confessional is followed by images of Cooper literally sitting in between Ravitz and Kimball, Cooper cozying up to Ravitz next to the pool, Ravitz seemingly giving Cooper a giant stuffed dog (à la the toy Kimball gave Annaliese Puccini), and Kimball throwing that new stuffed dog into the ocean while wearing a two-piece floral jumpsuit. Puccini is no where to be seen in this vignette.

Amid all of mayhem, someone who may be Kendall Long says in voiceover, “Jenna could be the thing that ignites the feud between Jordan and David.”

No matter what happens this summer, we should expect to see the same fun-loving, unapologetically flirty Cooper we met during The Bachelor. As the Paradise newbie told an inquisitive Twitter fan wondering if a “fun and carefree” Cooper will “arrive, get drunk, and straddle somebody,” on the beach, she jokingly responded, “That sounds accurate!”