2 contestants just quit 'Bachelor in Paradise' amid backlash over their pre-season relationship. Here's a complete timeline of what went down leading up to their dramatic exit.

Pieper James, a contestant on Matt James' season of "The Bachelor," was eliminated in week 7 and placed 5th overall.

While James and Morais hadn't appeared on the same "Bachelor" show at that point, an unnamed source told Us Weekly in June 2021 that the two "have mutual friends" and "hang out in the same 'Bachelor' crowd."

"Pieper and Brendan have been dating for a few weeks now," the anonymous source said in June. "Either he'll fly to New York and hang with her, or she'll fly to Boston to hang with him. She was most recently in Boston over Memorial Day weekend and they were even spotted out in public together."

Around the same time that Us Weekly reported that Morais and James were dating, "Bachelor in Paradise" filmed its seventh season in Mexico.

The popular spin-off features past "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" contestants trying to find love on a beautiful beach.

Even though James was missing from the official ABC "Bachelor in Paradise" cast announcement, blogger Steve Carbone (aka "Reality Steve") had already reported by June 30 that James would make an appearance later in the season.

Parker was a contestant on Peter Weber's season of "The Bachelor."

While Morais and Parker form a connection on the beach, other "Bachelor in Paradise" contestants start gossiping about how the commercial roofer was dating James prior to coming to Mexico to film the season.

On "Week 2: Part 1," Morais goes on a date with Demi Burnett, a new arrival to the beach and past "The Bachelor" contestant.

The date goes downhill after Morais directly tells Burnett that he intends to date around on the beach. He also mentions James, who isn't on the beach at that point, saying they've hung out and enjoyed each other's company prior to the show but that it isn't a "relationship."

Later, Morais tells Parker that his relationship with James is "super casual and he has had "deeper conversations" with Parker in their short time together on "Bachelor in Paradise."

While Parker expresses doubt about their newly-formed connection in "Week 2: Part 2," Morais assures Parker he likes her "more and more" every day.

In a separate confessional, Parker continues to voice her doubts, saying Morais is either "super complicated" about expressing his true feelings towards her or a "con artist."

Earlier in "Week 3: Part 1," Parker had told guest host Lance Bass that she and Morais were two of the only people on the beach that season who hadn't kissed yet.

Episode six ("Week 4: Part 1") proves to be a particularly dramatic one, with James finally making her "Bachelor in Paradise" entrance. She declares in a confessional that she's on the show specifically to connect with Morais, seemingly confirming all the rumors that had been floating around in the first five episodes of the season.

Following through with her intentions, she asks Morais out on a date where the two reflect on their relationship so far and talk about where they go from there. James accuses Morais of "downplaying" their relationship while Morais tells James he had to navigate the season in a way he would still be on the beach when James got there.

To make sense of her own relationship with Morais, Parker has two separate conversations with him during which Morais tells Parker that their relationship was never romantic and she has "selective hearing."

James separately tells Parker that James' relationship with Morais isn't casual and they've hung out at least 10 times with James even making a trip to Boston to see Morais, appearing to directly contradict the conversation Morais and Parker had on-screen earlier in the season.

Later in the episode, Morais calls Parker "annoying" and says that she didn't have any romantic "prospects" on the beach aside from Morais.

Morais and James also have a conversation about getting exposure through screentime and gaining social-media followers.

James wrote on her Instagram story on September 7 that reality TV "isn't real" and it doesn't show "every single thing said and done."

"I don't believe in pitting women against each other," she continued. "I don't believe men are prizes to be won at the expense of someone's feelings."

In a separate statement shared with Us Weekly later that week, James said she didn't have the "intention of hurting anyone, nor would I ever want to be the reason why someone had a bad experience" on "Bachelor in Paradise."

"I went in excited to see a guy that I had connected with and liked before the show started filming, and was looking forward to seeing if that connection would grow into something more," she told the publication.

James added about Parker: "I had a friendship with Natasha before the show and had spoken to her about me and Brendan talking. With that said, I am truly sorry for any hurt that I caused her and hope that I get the opportunity to speak to her soon and make things right."

On September 8, Morais apologized for his since-deleted September 6 Instagram post where he joked that he went on "Bachelor in Paradise" for "the wrong reasons."

"My approach to many things in life is sarcasm," he wrote in his IG story. "In this instance, with regard to my post, I was completely insensitive."

He went on to apologize directly to Parker.

"I hurt you. I am deeply sorry for doing so," he said. "I understand that the damage is already done and all I can do going forward is acknowledge the error of my ways."

On "Week 5," several other "Bachelor in Paradise" contestants, including Parker, Joe Amabile, and Demi Burnett, confront Morais and James on the status of their relationship, questioning why the two would join the reality show if they were already committed to each other.

In response, Morais says he and James had only gone on "two or three" dates prior to coming to the show, and had only socialized in group settings beyond that.

"It's not like, 'Hey Pieper, do wanna be my girlfriend,'" Morais explains, while also admitting that he had hoped James would join the show as a contestant.

Parker and Amabile tell Morais that by him hoping to enter into a relationship with James even before she made an appearance on the show, Morais wasn't being "open to the process" of finding love among the other contestants.

Ultimately, Morais and James leave "Bachelor in Paradise" together after the tense conversation, saying they want to explore their relationship "on our terms."

On the car ride away from the beach, Morais again defends his actions: "I didn't intentionally wanna mislead anyone. I just withheld information."

In episode eight, Morais accuses fellow "Bachelor in Paradise" contestant Deandra Kanu on Tuesday of criticizing his relationship with James because Kanu is "upset no one is talking to her."

He also says that Parker had "zero chance" of having a relationship with "any guy who had been here."

As the episode, and Morais' comments, aired, Kanu tweeted that Morais made her uncomfortable by "continuously shaming black women" on the beach.

James said in a statement shared over her Instagram story on September 14 that she and Morais "were not in an exclusive relationship in any capacity before filming."