As you may’ve surmised from past posts, we’re unabashed fans of Bachelor in Paradise here at UrbanDaddy. So in the week prior to the season finale—which airs tonight—we thought we'd catch up with one of our favorite cast members, Diggy Moreland.

Over a round of drinks in Chicago, Moreland dished about the unaired antics on Rachel’s season of The Bachelorette, the sweatiest person on Paradise and what really happened during the infamous shutdown. It should go without saying that we also discussed Chris Harrison (though not at the length such an enigmatic subject deserves).

So you finish filming The Bachelorette...how long is it before you get the call that you’re wanted on Bachelor in Paradise?
About two months.

And by that time, is The Bachelorette already airing?
It has. It’s a quick turnaround. A lot of the guys filming Bachelor in Paradise didn’t get a chance to see a good chunk of Rachel’s season.

Did you feel strongly for Rachel? Were you surprised by how strongly or not strongly you felt for her at the time?
It’s weird because obviously this is an accelerated process...but I never got the point where I developed super strong feelings. Had I made it a little further I could see that happening, because you really at that point eat, think and drink rachel. You’re in an incubator. There’s nothing else to think about.

What’s a typical day like in the Bachelorette mansion?
In the mansion you get up, try to eat breakfast, go work out, talk to the guys, wait for a date card, whatever. If there’s a group date and you’re not on it, for the rest of the day you’re just lounging, doing your own thing, out by the pool, playing card games, having some really good conversations with the guys...I think that’s why the guys are so close, ‘cause you develop this bond. I knew more about some of these guys than I knew about some of my closest friends, because we were literally in the house talking non-stop. You make up weird games. Read. Sleep a lot. And there’s so much alcohol. It’s like “alright it’s 12 o’ clock on a Tuesday, I guess we should start taking some shots.”

What was the weirdest game you guys played?
We didn’t have any cash and we didn’t have any chips, so we played poker with M&Ms. And to buy back in you had to take a shot of the choosing of the table. So if there’s like five of us we can all come to an agreement, like, he has to take a Jameson shot to get back in. Or we can each take a shot glass, and if there are four other guys, we can all pour our liquors in there. So maybe you might get a little bit of Jamo, a little tequila, some fireball…

By contrast, what’s a typical day like in paradise?
There are two extremes. You wake up whenever you want to or you’re woken up by a producer who’s like, “Hey, you might want to be over here by 8 o'clock.” The thing is you never know when that sort of thing’s going to happen ,so we have no incentive or reason to go to bed.  So we can go to bed at 5am and then the producers might wake you up at 8 and you’d be like why…They can’t tell you the night before, so they’re probably thinking in their head, “it’s five in the morning, he’s up just taking shots, he’s going to regret this in the morning.”

And then for me, I get up, see who’s up, go work out on the beach, shower, eat breakfast. Lay out…

So how long was it again before production was shut down [Ed. Note: Production was shut down when a producer filed a misconduct allegation, following a sexual encounter between castmates Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson. This allegation has since been found baseless.]
We were filming for about three days and then the shutdown came.

The shutdown became a character of its own. It seemed like so much shit happened that was not caught on tape. What went down?
We stayed on the resort a few days, and those were probably the most fun times, because usually when you’re filming, the producers have a job to do, someone’s going on a date, you’ve got to do your ITMs [Ed. Note: that's reality TV-speak for in-the-moment interviews]. Now it’s like, you’re on a resort, it’s all-inclusive, it’s all paid for and you’re with some of your closest friends. Let’s have a great time. So that’s kind of how it was. There was no pressure, no camera in your face. Then we left...at that point I kind of thought the show was over. Some of the other contestants went to their friend's home town, a lot of people went to LA, a lot of people went to Dallas...

Did any other big things happen during the shutdown?
Nah, it was just a big party.

What’s it like watching it back? Who’s gotten the most unfair edit?
I would say Amanda probably got a great edit, from the standpoint of there’s nothing bad, nobody had anything bad to say about Amanda. I got a good edit. The worst edit I would say probably has to go to Iggy. Which sucks because he probably got the worst edit on The Bachelorette, too.

It seems like some people are really looking for a serious relationship, and then some people just want to party and have fun, which seems apropos given the situation. Is that the case?
I mean you do have both. It’s almost hard to turn down. If somebody asks me, “Dig, do you wanna come on an island in Mexico and try to find love?” Done. Island. Mexico. Liquor. Things are paid. Yes, I’m in.

Yeah, sounds like a move.
And girls. ‘Cause I mean, think about it now, when we’re young going on vacation...when I want to go meet somebody as a single guy, I’m going to Miami, Cancun whatever. I want to get drunk, meet girls...why not do that on a beach?

And where you already have a group of girls who have to hang out with you.
Exactly. They have no choice but to hang out with you. So that’s one option, just to go out there and party. But you do have people that go there looking for love. And the thing is if you look at the cast, a lot of us are skewed a little bit younger. So to expect all the people to come out of this with a serious relationship? To be fair, Dean’s 26. When I was 26, a serious relationship was the furthest thing from my mind.

Which couple do you think is poised to last?
Based on what we’ve seen, I think Derek and Taylor.

Assuming all the couples get married, which one is going to have the best wedding?
Man. So I have Adam and Raven, Derek and Taylor, Amanda and Robbie, me and Dominique...Me and Dom would definitely have the best wedding in terms of fun.

Other than you guys.
I gotta go Adam and Raven. Raven’s a lot of fun. We would have a blast.

Who’s the biggest drinker on Paradise? Who can drink everyone else under the table?
Alexis.

Really.
I have a high tolerance, but as far as “yo, let’s take a shot, let’s take a shot, let’s go.” Alexis.

The whole Wells-as-the-bartender thing is so funny to me. Was he allowed to leave the bar to go hang out with you guys?
Wells couldn’t really leave the bar. He had a shift he was working, like a real job.

So he couldn’t come out and hang out with you guys?
Nah, he was the bartender.

Was he a good bartender?
Average. Don’t ask for anything too complex.

Here’s something I’ve always wondered about. Does Chris Harrison ever show up to just hang out?
No. We see Chris Harrison rarely.

What do you think he’s doing?
I think he’s somewhere in air conditioning. Because I never saw Chris sweat once.  

It must be hot there. You see everyone else sweating.
It’s so hot there.

I feel like Amanda consistently commented on Robby’s perspiration. Who was the sweatiest person on the show?
I guess I gotta go Robbie.

Who was the least clean?
Dean. By far.

In what way?
As far as his suitcase gave me anxiety. He was super messy. He already came out and told us he doesn’t use soap. And he doesn’t stink, so... It’s weird.

What’s one thing you wish you had in paradise that you couldn’t get?
Besides air conditioning? They didn’t have any desserts.

Was it strange for you to go out on a date with Jami last week after you had established a relationship with Dominique? 
It’s definitely weird. Technically you’re not in a relationship. I’d known Dom all of 3 or 4 days. But you realize, you have to take a step back and think about how it’s perceived.

Is there anything you think viewers like me misunderstand about what being on the show is actually like?
The biggest thing is, you guys see bits and pieces of the conversations. You don’t see the whole conversation. You don’t see the entire context of the conversation. Ball park-ish, what you see is somewhat accurate. But you gotta know that a lot of times we get bored on the island, we joke around a lot, we’re sarcastic a lot. And a lot of people forget that.

What can you tell me about the finale?
You’re going to have a mix of everything. Happiness, sadness, anger, surprises. All emotions will be covered. It was a great season.

This conversation has been edited for clarity.