Colton Underwood’s leading ladies certainly brought a whole new level of extra to The Bachelor season premiere Monday.
From Tracy’s police escort entrance to Bri’s epic accent scam, the 30 women looking to win over the former NFL player’s heart in the special 3-hour premiere of the ABC reality dating show certainly weren’t playing around.
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In addition to the creative Cinderella carriages and doggy escorts the contestants brought to the table, there were more than their fair share of raunchy double entendres and comments about Underwood still being a virgin, including Caitlin bringing a red “cherry” balloon to not-so-subtly pop in front of her potential future husband.
And yes, of course there was plenty of drama, which kicked off when Demi stole Colton away first during the cocktail party in a move that changed the vibe of the night much as it does every season. From that point on, it was a mash-up of “Can I interrupt?” and “first date” gimmicks, with Catherine declaring on that while the other women in the house were like “beautiful statues,” there wasn’t much to them that would give her competition.
When she went back for a double-dip (then a triple-dip) on her time with Colton, Onyeka interrupted, wearing a snorkel and declaring, “Colton, I heard you were drowning in some b—es so I came to save you.”
It was a “disrespectful” move, the rest of the women agreed, with Heather telling the cameras, “No one here is happy with Catherine’s aggressiveness,” before Onyeka took the forward contestant aside to “keep it real” about her place in the household.
“I think that I got through to her and she won’t be stealing Colton again,” she said, before Catherine of course went back to steal Colton for a fourth time.
“Fourth time’s a charm,” Colton said uneasily as she approached him.
Aside from the drama in the house, Colton was clearly feeling it with several of the women vying for his attention, awarding his first kiss to Miss North Carolina herself, Caelynn, and his first impression rose to Hannah G.
At the end of the night, however, Colton also sent home six ladies he apparently wasn’t feeling much of a connection with—Revian, Erin, Tahzjuan, Devin, Alex D. and Laura.
Colton himself was the subject of a fair amount of drama during his time on Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette and with Tia Booth on Bachelor in Paradise, some of which made him less-than-popular with much of Bachelor Nation.
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t look at any of the negative reactions. Some of the comments, I could see where they come from—I get it, people who say I’m not ready,” he told host Chris Harrison during Monday’s premiere. “It’s a fine balance, because I’m not here to do it for the fans or to win people over, I’m doing this for me.”
He added, “I know not everybody’s gonna like me. I know I have a lot of room to grow. But I also have an idea of what I want now, and that’s what’s so exciting about this.”
That doesn’t mean he isn’t looking forward to this season, which Harrison of course teased as “the most dramatic” ever.
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I couldn’t be more hopeful and excited,” Colton explained, adding, “But then I feel really nervous.”
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Photo credit: ABC/Rick Rowell
