The Bachelorette

DeMario Jackson is not only willing ... he's eager to appear on a "Bachelor in Paradise" reunion show so he can hug all his former castmates who privately supported him over Corinne Olympios' sexual assault allegations.

DeMario was at Toast in L.A. Saturday and he clearly holds no grudges. Listen to him describe his feelings for Corinne ... this after she came on strong that she did not have the capacity to consent to a sexual escapade with DeMario in a swimming pool.

Rachel Lindsay got rid of all the black suitors on Tuesday's episode of 'The Bachelorette' except one ... but even he doesn't think race had anything to do with it.

We spoke with Eric Bigger, who's the last standing African-American contestant vying for Rachel's heart this week -- and he doesn't think love has anything to do with color ... and thinks Rachel sees it the same way.

Sounds like a big change of attitude from Monday night's episode, where he pointed out most of Rachel's one-on-one dates were with non-black guys. However, he claims producers twisted his words ... and he really doesn't feel like race is a factor.

Check out his rationale on why he thinks Rachel broke down last week over racial pressure. He's got an interesting take.

The cast of "Bachelor in Paradise" now has a VERY close relationship with the crew under the show's new rules. The question is, business as usual, or the new normal?

Contestants were hanging poolside at the Mexican resort where 'BiP' resumed filming after the DeMario Jackson/Corinne Olympios sex scandal. It's plain as day .. cameramen and producers are hovering like flies over their stars.

We broke the stories ... 'BiP' showrunners have implemented strict new rules for the cast, including a 2 drink maximum per hour, a sweep for illegal drugs ... and having to get permission from producers before hooking up.

Rachel Lindsay is putting herself out there for love on "The Bachelorette" -- literally, she's hanging 187 feet in the air for it ... where make out sessions are NOT off limits.

Rachel went rappelling off a super high structure in Oslo, Norway with suave contestant Bryan Abasolo during Monday night's episode -- and on the way down, they took a break to suck a little face ... very, very loudly.

DeMario Jackson -- the guy who had oral sex with Corinne Olympios during filming of "Bachelor in Paradise" -- is done with the show.

Sources close to DeMario tell TMZ he's suffered from anxiety over the scandal after living under a cloud of suspicion for a week. He's even started seeing a therapist. And, he's upset because his name will now forever be linked to a sex scandal, even though Warner Bros. essentially concluded he did nothing wrong.

We're told DeMario claims producers spoke to his lawyer and invited him back on the show, but he's done. Other sources dispute that he was invited back and say no decision has been made.

We're told DeMario now wants to ditch reality TV for a career as an on-air personality.

Rachel Lindsay was brought to tears on "The Bachelorette" ... and it was mostly about her inner struggle with being the first black woman calling the shots on the long-running series.

There's been A LOT of fighting and bickering among Rachel's guys this season, and that definitely was part of her breakdown -- but on Monday night's episode, she made it clear racial pressure is weighing heavy on her.

Rachel insinuates she's going to catch heat from the black community for some of her rose ceremony choices.

Corinne Olympios and her BF are putting up a united front during her "Bachelor in Paradise" sex scandal with DeMario Jackson ... even if they're not talking about it.

Corinne grabbed some lunch Saturday in L.A. with Jordan Gielchinsky, carrying on like your average couple ... even though their situation is anything but. Both were mum on Corinne's next move.

We broke the story ... Jordan is standing by Corinne in the midst of the investigation over her sexual encounter with fellow "BiP" contestant DeMario -- despite agreeing she wouldn't hook up on the show. Corinne says she was out of it and it wasn't consensual.

Classic move by a good beau.

DeMario Jackson's ex-gf -- the woman who exposed him as a villain on national TV -- is actually coming to his defense in the Corinne Olympios scandal ... but she has a strange way of doing it.

Lexi Thexton claims DeMario is nothing more than a "30-year-old man child" who parties way too much -- but also says there's no way the "Bachelor in Paradise" star would knowingly take advantage of a drunk woman ... as Corinne insinuated when she declared she's a victim.

For Lexi to say anything supportive about her ex is a big deal. Mind you, she also called him a "sh***y guy" who's completely self-absorbed ... among a list of other insults. She did offer a theory about what really happened with Corinne -- and strongly believes it's more about 2 people getting too drunk.

For non-'Bachelorette' viewers ... Lexi made a surprise appearance on the show, calling out DeMario for trying to woo Rachel Lindsay while still dating her. He got booted off the show that very same episode.

One of Rachel Lindsay's guys on "The Bachelorette" was determined, or even desperate, to be on the show ever since he was in high school.

Fan fave Peter Kraus listed his future plans in his 2005 high school yearbook. The senior at Edgewood High in Madison, WI wrote ... "Go to art school, become famous in one way or another, be on The Bachelor, live happily."

Welp ... he can knock being on the show off his bucket list, which arguably means ... he's accomplished the "famous" part too.

There's fan speculation Peter's the guy Rachel picks, and actually gets engaged to at the end of the season. She does seem really into him.

Makes ya wonder if she knows about Peter's high school ambitions.

Corinne Olympios claims she was in a blackout state when she got sexual with fellow "Bachelor in Paradise" star DeMario Jackson ... and she blames producers for not pulling the plug and protecting her, although our sources say people who have seen the tape claim she was lucid and fully engaged.

Sources close to Corinne tell TMZ she was drunk the entire day of filming when she ended up naked in the swimming pool with DeMario. Although DeMario remembers everything -- from "rubbing, touching and fingering" to licking her genitals -- she says she remembers nothing.

We're told the day after the swimming pool incident she claims fellow cast members began telling her stories of what went down with DeMario. She says several cast members told her they had voiced concern to people on the production crew that she was in no position to consent to sexual activity, but the crew did not heed their warnings.

Production sources insist other cast members did not complain to anyone that Corinne was too drunk to form an intent to have sexual contact with DeMario.

Corinne has told her friends she has a boyfriend and wouldn't have done what she did -- especially with cameras rolling -- to jeopardize that relationship.

As we reported, sources familiar with the footage say she appeared "fully engaged." Corrine doesn't fully blame DeMario because he too was drunk. She blames producers and has lawyered up.

"Bachelor in Paradise" has been shut down as Warner Bros investigates.

"Bachelor in Paradise" stars Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson pushed the envelope too far, and "the truth came to light" ... so says 'Bachlorette' star Eric Bigger.

Eric was leaving Nightingale Sunday night and chimed in on the 'BiP' controversy that shut down production. He believes Corrine and DeMario probably were having fun, until things got out of hand.

TMZ broke the story ... a producer complained about the contestants getting extremely sexual in a swimming pool. Warner Bros halted production and launched an investigation.

"Bachelor in Paradise" was shut down after a producer complained about 2 contestants getting extremely sexual in a swimming pool ... this according to sources connected to contestant DeMario Jackson, but there are different versions and Warner Bros. has launched a full investigation.

Here's DeMario's version of events, as told by people with whom he spoke:

Last Sunday -- the first day of production at a Mexican resort -- DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios were told by producers one of the story lines would be the 2 of them hooking up ... especially entertaining because both are considered villains from previous shows.

We're told the 2 met at the bar and the alcohol was flowing. DeMario says Corinne jumped in his lap and started making out with him. We're told there was lots of "intense rubbing."

DeMario says Corinne then suggested they retreat to the pool, with the cameras rolling. They took off their clothes, started making out and "rubbing, touching and fingering." He says she put her genitals in his face and he began licking, but we're told this allegation is a big point of contention and others disagree with his account. He says he was not able to engage in intercourse because of the alcohol.

DeMario says the next day everything was fine and he and Corrine were actually getting along well, but on Tuesday they were called in by the Executive Producer and told one of the show producers had seen the film and was "uncomfortable" with what was shot.

The producer has filed a formal complaint with Warner Bros. Warner brass immediately suspended production, launched an investigation and released DeMario and Corrine. Two days later Warner Bros. released the entire cast while they investigated alleged "misconduct."

Production for 'Bachelor in Paradise' has been suspended after allegations of misconduct were reported ... which puts a halt to filming for the upcoming season indefinitely.

Warner Bros. execs for the show said Sunday that they had been alerted to some sort of misconduct on the set of 'BiP', which is currently shooting in Mexico.

As a result of the allegations -- which at this point have not been made public -- WB has put a temporary halt to the show and is now investigating. They've said they will also take appropriate action upon completing the investigation.

This season of 'BiP' is highly anticipated, especially after Nick Viall's recent stint on 'The Bachelor.' Some of his axed ladies like Raven Gates, Corinne Olympios and Taylor Nolan were cast, as was Amanda Stanton from Ben Higgins' season. Some of the guys cast were Derek Peth, Nick Benvenutti, Ben Zorn and DeMario Jackson.

Rachel Lindsay was done with the 'Whaboom' guy, Lucas, and his arch-nemesis, Blake, on "The Bachelorette" ... but they weren't done clowning each other.

After each guy got stiffed in Monday night's rose ceremony, Lucas and Blake went after each other. They've beefed all season, but instead of going out with a brawl -- or even clever insults -- they traded goofy-as-hell shots.

Lots of yelling back and forth, and playground mocking ... but Lucas didn't even get in 1 last WHABOOM!

Honestly, we got enough in episode 1.

'Bachelorette' Rachel Lindsay has Bachelor Nation up in arms because a video of her partying with a dude ... appears to totally SPOIL the ending of her season.

For the uninitiated ... a video posted the same night as Rachel's premiere episode showed her kicking it with a handsome guy with facial hair. No biggie, until fans noticed the guy has a strong resemblance to Peter Kraus -- one of the front-runners to win Rachel's hand.

Fans are pissed ... thinking Rach gave away all the mystery. After all, she's already admitted she got engaged to one of the guys.

Take a pill, fans ... sources at the party tell us the guy in the background is a friend of a friend of Rachel's ... and absolutely NOT Peter. If it were him, Rachel would be in hot water with producers. She's banned from hanging with ANY of the contestants while the show's airing.

Soooo ... no spoiler in the video.

Still, don't count Peter out of the running, for obvious reasons ...

Michael Nance -- a contestant on season 8 of "The Bachelorette" -- was found dead early Monday morning in Texas.

According to the Austin PD ... the death is not suspicious, but the manner will be determined later by the medical examiner. Officers were called to a residence at 2:10 AM Monday to check on an unresponsive male. They say Nance was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Michael competed for Emily Maynard back in 2012, before she eventually sent him home mid-season.

Michael was 31.