A Comprehensive History of the "Boom Boom Room" From 'Bachelor in Paradise'

We’ve perhaps never heard as much about the "Boom Boom Room" on Bachelor in Paradise as we have in Season 7. We never even realized there was such a thing. But now, the Boom Boom Room has taken up a central role after Maurissa and Riley supposedly spent the night there, much to Connor Brennan’s chagrin.

So what exactly is the Boom Boom Room and have we seen it before? Are there any rules around going into the Boom Boom Room? There are a lot of questions about the sexy quarters, but don’t worry, we have some answers.

Although we don’t hear about the Boom Boom Room until Season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise, it has definitely been a thing since at least Season 3. In an interview with Bustle, Season 3 contestant Evan Bass revealed, “On Paradise, there is ample time to hook up. There was even a room back at the Paradise ranch we called the ‘Boom Boom Room.’” At the time, this was a room far from cameras that allowed contestants some private time to … get down to business.

Some fans have criticized producers for the Boom Boom Room, thinking that the idea was stolen from MTV’s Are You the One? but it sounds like the title of the suggestive room in Bachelor in Paradise came from contestants just talking about it. And although it’s been part of the beach since at least Season 3, we don’t actually hear about it from the contestant’s mouths until Season 6.

In the 2019 season of Bachelor in Paradise, Caelynn and Connor talk about going into the Boom Boom Room, until Dean comes back to steal Caelynn’s heart back. However, for the most part, even when the room does get used, it goes largely undiscussed.

Reportedly, it’s the only air conditioned part of the beach, so Bibi went in just to nap, and other solid couples like Chris and Krystal and Kevin and Astrid spent a lot of unseen time in the Boom Boom Room, whether they were “boom-ing” or not.

Although the Boom Boom Room is pretty much up for grabs for anyone to use, contestants do need to get producers’ permission before going into the room. After an incident of alleged sexual misconduct in Season 4 between Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson led to halted production and internal investigations, producers tightened up the rules regarding both drinking and private time.

Now, contestants can only have two drinks every hour (which is still quite a lot), and they must get producers’ approval before going into the Boom Boom Room. This means that producers must sign off that the contestant is sober enough to make the decision to go into the room with someone else and to consent to whatever may happen in the room.

It sounds mostly like a legal precaution for the Bachelor in Paradise production team, but so far, it seems to have protected contestants as well.

If contestants don’t get producers’ approval before going into the room, producers can walk into the room mid-coitus, an unpleasant situation for everyone involved. So we can assume that anything that happens in the Boom Boom Room is totally consensual and sober … enough.

The reason that the Boom Boom Room is now so central to and shocking in Season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise is because we actually see it. Never before have we seen the Boom Boom Room, let alone footage of a couple inside the room.

Did Maurissa and Riley know they were being filmed? At the very least, we have to applaud the producers on the editing of the new couple’s Boom Boom Room time intercut with Connor unknowingly playing the ukulele on the beach.

Tune into new episodes of Bachelor in Paradise every Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.