Ah yes, with the new year another season of The Bachelor has come upon us. How shocking will it be? How many tears will be shed? And most importantly, who's going to get that coveted final rose and marriage proposal?
Many may not know this, but I've become a bit of a Bachelor franchise fanatic in the past year or so. I never watched it growing up as I didn't really care about love or love stories as a kid. I was a bit of a tomboy so anything related to love was a pretty big no for me growing up. And as I got older I never really got into it until Becca's season of the Bachelorette.
Then I fell headfirst into the crazy world of the Bachelor franchise and I loved every second of it. Particularly because Becca's season was followed by Paradise, which is one of the best reality tv series I've ever watched. I had a lot of fun watching the two seasons in 2018, and it kind of made me believe in love again. But that's a story for another time. (Let me know if you want me to blog about that experience!)
I'll be honest, I wasn't happy to hear initially that they had chosen Colton as the Bachelor. After watching him on Becca's season and BIP, I didn't think he was ready to commit to marrying someone. I thought he really needed some time to figure himself out first and then find love. Also selfishly I wanted it to be Jason because I love him and want to see him find the hockey mom of his dreams, haha.
But after watching the initial commercial promos of the season. And seeing him on a couple different talk shows for interviews, he grew on me as the Bachelor. Also since this season looks to be filled with drama, I feel like I need to tune in. Even if Colton wasn't my first pick. And we will get a lot of nice shirtless shots since Colton was a former football player, which will be good.
So how about that first episode then? We got a 3-hour long premiere, filled with visits to watch parties around the country, drama, and Chris Harrison. So the majority of the first hour was spent introducing the different watch parties and the intro packages for a handful of the women. And of course, if they have an intro package, you know they're staying past the first night.
I'll be honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of this. While I think having correspondents out at watch parties is a nice idea, I felt like it took most of the focus of the episode. Instead of it being on Colton and the ladies he met that night. Also, a whole hour going to the parties felt quite excessive. The proposals were cute and it was nice to see some of our favorite Bachelor and Bachelorette personalities return.
But overall it was a little too much for my tastes. If they want to try it again, I'd recommend limiting it to at the most a half hour. And having the hosting bits between the episode be shorter as well. So after almost an hour of screen time, we finally arrived at the limos getting to the front of the mansion.
I thought this season there were some pretty good ideas for the entrances. To me, they were a little more creative than the ones on Becca's season of the Bachelorette. So some of my favorites include Tracy in the cop car, Erika with the bag of nuts, Cassie with the box of butterflies (also did you notice that Colton kept one of the butterflies after she went into the mansion?) and of course Bri with the fake Australian accent.
But my favorite entrance of the night had to be Alex D. Or as many have dubbed her, the sloth girl. As an actor, I admire someone that keeps to a bit and stays in character. And she stayed in that sloth the entire way up to Colton even if it took a couple minutes to get there. I appreciate the commitment even if she didn't end up with a rose. Maybe she'll be the next Grocery Store Joe.
Then we get into the first cocktail party of the night. Which of course the big story is Catherine interrupting other girls four different times to get speak with Colton. Honestly, I know exactly why she went with that strategy despite pissing off most of the other women in the house. It showed that she's making Colton her first priority, which considering some of the reasons people get on this show is a good thing to establish right off the bat.
Also, I did love how Onyeka stole Colton during his second time speaking with Catherine. I mean who isn't going to remember, "I heard your drowning in bitches!" by the time this is all over with? I know I certainly will.
For the different activities and pull away with Colton, I really enjoyed Elyse and her pool fishing. Sydney showing him some dance moves with a quartet was a favorite of mine as well as a former violinist. I think Tracy's was really strong as well having him color shoes with her since she's a wardrobe stylist.
But obviously, the front-runners are the girls who he was able to just have conversations with excluding a gimmick or activity. Which were the four girls he kissed, Caelynn the beauty queen from North Carolina, Katie the medical sales rep who dances, Cassie who works as a speech pathologist with kids (a good sign for Colton), and Hannah G. who gets the first impression rose.
Which I was pretty surprised about as he didn't talk to her inside the mansion after her entrance before getting the rose. And her entrance was giving Colton an empty box saying, "I brought you your favorite brand of underwear!" Because apparently, it's a known fact that Colton likes to go commando.
I don't know, I don't seem them having a huge connection, so I'm guessing she goes home on the 2-on-1 date.
But I will say the other three he made out with seem like they'll be around for a while. I'm guessing all three (Caelynn, Cassie, and Katie) will make it to hometowns and a couple even further than that. So after all that drama and the first impression rose given out, Colton has his first rose ceremony as the Bachelor.
He keeps 23 of the woman which include the four I mentioned before this, Catherine (the "villain"), Sydney, Elyse, Onyeka, Tracy, and others. And that's it for the three-hour long premiere of Colton's season of the Bachelor!
Alright, let's get to some more predictions. I'm already calling it that Demi is the real villain of this season. Catherine seems fairly harmless outside of this first night. Especially since we see like none of her in the season promo they showed us after the episode. Demi though seems like she enjoys stirring up trouble. Especially among the other women.
I'm expecting some catfighting from the two pageant queens. Because there are two Miss.USA contestants in this group of ladies in Caelynn and Hannah B. They both seem to be nice to one another right now, but I'm surprised if that ends up lasting until one of them goes home.
As for who I think will be stealing Colton's heart and getting that ring? I'm putting my money on Cassie based off her night one edit. Colton keeping the butterfly in his jacket, and the long make-out session make it seem like there's a good emotional connection there to build off of.
But my dark horse for the season is Elyse. I believe in the season promo that she says she "can't accept a proposal", which I think indicates she goes fairly far. Also, of course, I have to try and root for my fellow redheads, even if I don't think they'll go as far.
I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see where this season goes. As from that promo, it looks like there will be a ton of drama. Like where does Colton disappear to and why when he jumps over that fence? Why does one of the woman accuse another of ruining everything for everyone? And of course, the big question, will Colton lose his virginity. (I'll answer that one now, yes he will. C'mon that's what this is set up for right?)
So after a 3-hour premiere and 18 virgin jokes, here's to season 23 of the Bachelor!