Emily finally meets all 25 men who are vying for her heart and one man has already grabbed her attention. Read on to find out who stole her heart — and who was sent home!
Oh, the Bachelorette! How we’ve missed the unrealistic scenario of 25 men fighting over one woman, and of course, the testosterone- fueled drama!
Since Emily Maynard is no stranger to this crazy reality TV show, the first couple of minutes were used to recap Emily’s past.
Emily, 26, lost her fiancee/ NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick in a 2004 car accident. About a week after the tragedy, Emily found out she was pregnant with Ricky’s daughter whom she later named Ricki. After healing as much as she could, she was chosen to be on the Bachelor with Brad Womack whose heart she ultimately won, but later lost.
“I fell really hard for him,” Emily said. “Without a doubt I thought Brad was going to be my husband.”
Even though it didn’t work out, Emily is ready to find love for the third — and hopefully last — time. As Chris Harrisonexplained, this season is very different. Emily is the first single mom to be the Bachelorette and her suitors are based in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, as opposed to usually being based in L.A. Emily chose to do this so she could stay close to Ricki.
After shaking her nerves and having a heart-to-heart chat with Chris, Emily was ready to meet her suitors. From men in finance to men in helicopters — this year’s crop is definitely an interesting one.
First Emily meets Sean from Texas, David, the songwriter from New York City, and then Doug from Seattle who is a single father and looks like Brad Womack (Am I the only one who thinks that?).
Alessandro from Brazil wows her with his Portuguese, Stevie does a dance and Tony, an Oregon-native, brings her a glass slipper! Cutie Jef Holm makes her feel like a “nerd” — in a good way though — and Travis Pope brought her an egg?
But the grandest entrance of the night came from Kalon, a luxury brand consultant from Houston, Texas, who arrived in a helicopter. This did not earn brownie points from the other guys though– only the nickname “Helicopter Guy.” But not even this grand gesture could win the First Impression Rose — just the most hated man in the house rose! I think we have another Courtney Robertson on our hands?
And another suitor who seems to have a shot was Arie the hot race car driver. Arie is obviously aware of what happened to Ricky and was concerned it would be an issue with Emily, but surprisingly it’s not.
“I love racing. I love being at the racetrack. It’s the only sport I know about,” she says. Aww!
As of now, I’m rooting for Arie! I wish he would have received the first rose, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of him later. Don’t they seem like a perfect pair?
Unfortunately hot Arie didn’t receive The First Impression Rose. That went to… drum roll, please … Doug, whose 12-year-old son wrote Emily the sweetest letter ever. It definitely brought a tear to my eye.
But of course, for every rose that is handed out, a man is sent home. It’s not exactly that calculated, but you get my point. So who went home this evening?
Brent, Jean-Paul, Lerone, Jackson and David. Those names are now part of the Bachelorette past.
Let the games begin!
What do you think, HollywoodLifers? Were you surprised Doug got the first rose? Vote and weigh in below.
– Nicole Karlis
Follow @Nicolekarlis
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Posted at 1:02 PM on July 11, 2012
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