Early favorite, villain emerge on night 1 of 'The Bachelorette' with JoJo

ByJennifer Matarese WABC logo
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
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NEW YORK -- Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher began her journey for love on "The Bachelorette" Monday night! Fresh off being dumped by "The Bachelor" Ben Higgins, who had told her he loved her, she met 26 handsome bachelors vying for her heart. Is her husband among them? We'll have to wait and see! She says she's looking for someone with the same values as her and she's grateful for the experience and excited for whatever comes her way.

Former "Bachelorettes" Desiree, Kaitlyn, and Ali stopped by the mansion to give JoJo some advice. They told her that the guys' nerves on night one will calm her nerves. They told her to go for it and kiss on night one, and not to hold back. "Stay honest and true," Desiree said. They all talked about how awful it is to say goodbye to the guys that you care about. Ali said that she didn't "focus enough on the compatibility," and she just thought Roberto was "so hot" so that's why it didn't last. They all gave her the advice that if she likes someone a lot put them on the back burner for a bit and get to know some of the other people for a while, because that other guy will still be there. Let's hope that theory works for JoJo!

Chris Harrison introduced us to a few of the men in the competition before they made their big limo entrances. Grant is a 28-year-old firefighter from San Francisco. He says he's happy with his career and life and the next step is to find someone to share it with.

Jordan Rodgers was up next. Something tells me we'll be seeing a lot of Aaron Rodgers little brother. He talked a lot about being in his brother's shadow.

Alex is 25 and he lives in Oceanside, California. He said he was lacking some direction when he was younger, but then he enlisted in the Marines. He looks great in a uniform! He has a twin brother who is already married and that has spurred him on to looking for his own Mrs. Right.

James is 27-years-old and he's a "Bachelor" superfan! It's hilarious; he knows everything about the show. He seems hilarious.

Evan is 33 and he lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He was a pastor but now he runs an erectile dysfunction clinic. There were a lot of puns and corny things said in this segment, I can't even go there. Ok, maybe one, he has "Mojo for JoJo."

Ali lives in Santa Monica and he's an Iranian-American. He loves the beach and working as a bartender.

Christian is from LA and he is a fitness buff, but he works in telecommunications. He talked about the struggles of not being accepted by his father's side of the family because he is biracial. He takes care of his brothers for some reason, but he didn't say why.

Luke is from Texas and he is a country boy who loves to work on the farm. He has a Hollywood look though! VERY white teeth and some slick hair. He was also in the military and is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He seems amazing!

At long last, it was time for the limo arrivals! JoJo looked beautiful in a sparkling gold gown. Once she said she was ready, the men arrived at the house. First out of the limo was Jordan who told her that his parents met and were married within just a few months and they've been married for more than 30 years, so he thought that would be encouraging. She seemed to really like him!

Derek was next and he said that he felt good but nervous and then he told her that he watched her last season and she has a "really good sense of self" and that's what stuck out to him.

Grant the firefighter said that he could never fall in love with two girls like Ben did and he's there for her only.

James said he didn't come there for a rose; he came there for a relationship.

Robby brought a bottle of wine for JoJo and said as a "Fletcher Family tradition, who needs glasses". They drank out of the bottle and JoJo said, "My mom would like him." I liked this introduction, really creative and referenced her family in a fun way.

Alex our Marine was next. He said that he was nervous and JoJo told him he looked "good".

Will dropped his cards, seemingly on purpose, and JoJo told him to "get it together". He said he lost the order so he put them away. He then called himself the most beautiful woman in the world, and then said all joking aside; he's looking forward to getting to know her. The joke fell flat.

Chad went up to JoJo and held her hands. She told him that he smelled good and that she was looking forward to talking to him.

"Damn JoJo, back again as the next 'Bachelorette!'" said Daniel. He revealed that he's Canadian and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Ali nervously waved and then approached JoJo and told her she was "breathtaking". He seemed a little star struck, but she thought he was sweet.

James Taylor came out of the limo singing a song he made up for JoJo. She told him she wanted to play his guitar later.

John was wearing a kilt and he told JoJo he's half Chinese, half Scottish and he's Scottish below the waist, wink, wink. The guys made a big deal about his outfit. Daniel scoffed and said it would be like he took off his clothes and said "look how awesome my body is, but I would never do that on night one, let's keep it cool." Spoiler alert: Daniel takes off his clothes.

Santa Claus gave her a present to open later and said his name was St. Nick. If the guys loved the kilt, you knew they would love Santa Claus ha! This group of guys is a bunch of characters! Jordan said he thought it helped him out and said, "Bring on the costumes!"

The next several introductions were breezed through, so here we go:

"I mustache you a question, but I must shave it for later," was a bad joke by Chase.

Handsome Jake introduced himself as an architect.

"I give you permission to squeeze my balls," that was Sal an operations manager.

Real Estate guy Coley said that he "wants to take you off the market" to JoJo.

Brandon, a "hipster", is that a job?, said he didn't watch the season before so he knows nothing about her at all.

Chase joked that all of the guys in the mansion shared a similarity: "A lot of hair gel and cologne, kind of like you are walking through that first isle at Macy's."

The third James, James S., was extremely nervous and had to take a deep breath.

Nick S. came out and did a split and said he was there to fall for her quick.

Vinny gave her a piece of toast instead of "a toast".

Peter gave her a heart and said he wants to be her "Man Crush Monday".

Erectile Dysfunction guy, Evan, said "God Bless America" when he saw her. He also called her "girlie". Women love that over the age of 10.

Then it was time for some of the more impressive introductions. Wells brought out "All-4-One" who sang "I Swear" for her! Oh my goodness!!! How did he pull that one off? Even Jordan Rodgers was jealous of that!

A motorcycle pulled up and Christian got off of it. He seems to have a great personality and JoJo liked him too. He even promised to teach her how to ride it.

A white horse clip clopped up the driveway - oh wait, it's a unicorn! Luke the cowboy got off of the "unicorn" and he said that he wanted her to know that he thinks "unicorns are real" and he told her he was from Texas. JoJo loved meeting him.

JoJo walked in and thanked the group for being there and they raised their glasses to her.

Alex grabbed her first and he told her that he is a Marine, and to prove it he did pushups in front of her! Then she sat on his back! The other guys, sadly, thought he was an idiot.

Cutie Derek said that he's a nerd who likes "Harry Potter" and he was praying that he didn't self-destruct during their conversation. He has a John Krasinski vibe going on! And...apparently someone at GMA felt the same way:

The guys were all super nervous and stunned by JoJo's beauty! I was a bit surprised; I don't think I've ever seen a season with more nervous people!

JoJo said she hadn't felt a big connection yet and it was a little concerning to her...but then she sat down with Jordan. He asked her about how things were going with her and rubbed her back. He joked with her about meeting Santa, and she said his confidence was reassuring and it felt great to sit with him. She finally asked him about himself and he talked about how he's into media, and sports broadcasting, and how he does radio. Jordan told her he used to "play," but now he's retired and he's found himself. He thought that she was better than he was expecting and that their time together was very natural. He said he really wanted to kiss her, but he chickened out and he "instantly regretted it."

JoJo said the conversations are coming along and she's feeling more connections! So she's encouraged!

She sat down with Will and they played with an origami fortune teller. Of course the fortune asked for a kiss! She awkwardly kissed him, and she wasn't ready for it she said. Never force a kiss guys! It gives women the "icks". There's usually no coming back from that.

Jordan saved her from the situation and then he gave her a hug and he told her that he was actually a bit nervous. He went in for the kiss and it was a really good one! She was swept of her feet and said; "Now THAT is a kiss!" They danced in the moonlight and JoJo actually seemed weak in the knees! She also raved about his butt and said she needed to do squats as she walked away.

Chris Harrison came in and put down "The First Impression Rose" and the demeanor in the room shifted. Things got serious! Chad continued to make jerk comments in his interview sessions about everything the guys said and did the ENTIRE night.

Wells and JoJo hung out with "All-4-One" a bit and they did some more singing and he joked that wherever he went, they would be with him.

Jerky Chad came off very vulnerable to JoJo. I wonder what she will think when she watches this night back? She said she's curious about him and that there's something mysterious about him.

Daniel talked to JoJo about being from Canada and asked her if she remembered his introduction. He asked her if she knew some viral video, she didn't, and it just got weird. For reference, this is what they were talking about:

Meantime, the guys waiting around got drunk! Daniel poked Evan in the belly button and Evan was like, "Is that a Canadian thing?" The guys were pretty offended by it! I thought it was pretty funny actually, ha! So, Daniel took off his suit and showed off the fact that he's a body builder. JoJo asked him if he was wearing a thong, but he said it was "male underwear". Sure enough, he was that guy who jumped in the pool. James the superfan said his night was complete because a guy jumped in the pool, classic.

Then, Nick B. and Vinny interrupted her interview session in a drunken stupor. JoJo said, "What just happened?!" Daniel continued walking around in his speedo, looking for JoJo.

At last, some class in the place. Ali, (I'm seriously crushing on him), took to the piano and played some classical music for JoJo. She was really impressed and he was very sweet about trying to teach her some. He seems like a very sweet guy.

JoJo sat on Santa's lap and told him what she wanted for Christmas. She told Nick that he was handsome underneath the Santa beard. Poor guy was sweating so much! That cannot be easy to wear in California weather.

JoJo called guitar playing James Taylor a "kind soul" and she said she knew right off the bat that he was a gentleman. He kind of couldn't stop telling her how beautiful she was though!

Luke, the hot cowboy, brought JoJo a very nice pair of cowboy boots. She loved them and admitted she had an instant attraction to him. They were holding hands on the couch, but no kissing...yet!

JoJo picked up "The First Impression Rose" and she stole Jordan away, what a shocker, ha! The other guys were really disappointed! She said that despite all the people there she couldn't stop thinking about him. She also admitted that she loved their kiss and she's very excited to see where things go. They shared another little kiss and they held hands as they walked back to the inside of the house. I thought it was a little "flaunty" to be holding hands in front of the other guys. Chad immediately hated Jordan and said that he doesn't think he's a "genuine" guy.

Chris Harrison popped back out to steal JoJo away to deliberate and make her decisions on which guys she would keep around. After a while, she returned to her platform of roses, but before she could start handing them out a limo pulled up and Jake Pavelka got out! What?! He's like 38 and JoJo is 25. That's a bit of an age gap. He said he was just there to give her advice, so everybody calm down! I don't really get what the point of this cameo was, but oh well! Good to see crazy Jake again! It made the guys super confused at a very stressful time.

JoJo gave roses to:

1) Luke - Cowboy

2) Wells - All-4-One

3) James T. - Guitar guy

4) Grant - Firefighter

5) Derek - John Krasinski

6) Christian - Motorcycle

7) Chad - Jerk, possibly our villain?

8) Chase - Mustache joke guy

9) Alex - Marine

10) Robby - the Wine guy

11) Brandon - The hipster (how on earth?)

12) James F. (they interviewed him a lot?)

13) Ali - Piano player

14) St. Nick aka Nick B.

15) Will - Origami fortune teller bad kisser

16) James S. - S stands for Superfan

17) Vinny - Drunk guy

18) Evan - ED guy (how?)

19) Daniel - O-M-G why

20) Jordan - got the first impression rose earlier

Hunky Jake, Coley, Jonathan, Peter, Nick S., and Sal didn't make the cut. This season, let's be honest, looks amazing! Several guys tell JoJo they love her and she says that she feels love for more than one person, despite thinking that wasn't possible. There's a lot of drama, like does Robby have a girlfriend, and is Chad a violent guy who is out of control? The best line in the promo for this season was when JoJo said, "I didn't know that this much love existed!"

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