'Bachelor' Recap
NEW YORK -- This season of "The Bachelor" started with Clayton Echard surprising his mom with the news that he was the next "Bachelor." It was so sweet! You may also notice there's a new host, former "Bachelor" Jesse Palmer.
He's happily married, no, not to the woman he picked on the show. However, Clayton is a man on a mission to find his future bride and says he knows this process can work for him. He thought he had made a great connection with Michelle on "The Bachelorette" but it wasn't meant to be. Clayton said that experience made him realize he was truly ready to find his future wife and have a family.
Meet the Women
The show then previewed a few of the women that are vying for Clayton's heart.
- Shanae is 29 and from a small town in Ohio where everyone knows everyone. She apparently works as a recruiter. She claims she's ultra-competitive.
- Gabby is a 30-year-old ICU nurse from Denver and she tries really hard to be funny. She used to be an NFL cheerleader. She says she works so hard that she doesn't have time for dating.
- Rachel is 25 and a flight instructor from Florida. She says she's ready to find someone to move on to the next chapter of her life and meet her future husband.
- Daria is 24 years old and a law student at Yale from Baldwin, New York. She's extremely focused on her career but also wants to start a family.
- Susie is 28 and a wedding videographer from Virginia Beach. She talked about how she lived in Japan for a few years and she learned jiu-jitsu. She is a former Miss Virginia USA.
- Elizabeth is 32 and a real estate advisor from Colorado. She's very career-focused and is proud of the fact that she is financially independent.
- Teddi is 25 (although the screen said 24, she must have had a birthday recently) and works as a surgical unit nurse in Highland, California. She says the only thing missing in her life is finding her person. She's a virgin but said she would go into the fantasy suites. She's waiting until she's in love to have sex.
- Salley is 26 and lives in Virginia but is from South Carolina. She was previously engaged and said she was excited to get married, but towards the end of their engagement, there was a "lack of trust." She said the day before the first night of the show was the day she was supposed to get married. Ouch. She's already crying. So, she decides she needs to talk to Clayton. Clayton told Salley that he could relate to her because he had thought that he had found his person a while back and when it didn't work out it caused him to shut down for years. He told her that he thinks there's something special about her already and he was hoping that she might consider staying. "I think there's potentially something there," Clayton said. Then, he stepped away and thanked her for being so vulnerable and then offered her a rose! She said that she wanted to accept it but she was caught off guard. Clayton said he would love to talk to her all night. Wow. Salley went and spoke to someone on the phone and afterwards came back and told Clayton that she wasn't ready to accept the rose. She apologized and he said it was OK, Clayton thanked her for being honest. Anyone else think she may regret this?
Limos Arrive
OK, time for the limos!
1) Sarah, 23, is a wealth management advisor from NYC. She told Clayton he was even cuter in person. She brought him a tiger token as a reminder of home.
2) Lyndsey W., 28, is an industrial sales representative from Houston. She told him that he's got her looking north even though she's from the south because he's so tall.
3) Genevieve, 26, is a bartender from Los Angeles. She was very nervous and told him she's ready to get to know him and have some fun.
4) Ency, 28, is a sales manager from Burbank, California. She's half Persian and half Korean. She spoke in Korean about developing a friendship that turns into love.
5) Susie, 28, we met earlier. She used a hand buzzer to develop "electricity" between them. He thought it was funny.
6) Claire, 28, is a spray tanner from Virginia Beach. She said she had something planned for the introduction but scrapped it and she might tell him about it later.
7) Serene, 26, is an elementary school teacher from Oklahoma City. She said she was very excited, a little nervous, but that seeing him made her feel better.
8) Teddi, 24, is the surgical nurse we met earlier.
Ahem, the virgin. She said that although her name is Teddi she heard that he's a teddy bear and she hopes to be his teddy bear. "Girl, you make me feel some kind of way!" Clayton said about her. He said he feels way in over his head on this journey.
9) Tessa, 26, is a human resources specialist from Stamford, Connecticut. She said her name is asset backward.
10) Lindsay D., 27, is a neonatal nurse from Florida. She feels like she's meant to be there.
11) Daria, 24, the law student we met earlier, wore a rose necklace because her last name is rose and she hopes the night ends with a rose.
Clayton stopped and welcomed the women that were there so far and told them all that he was so excited by everyone he's met so far. They all thought he was really sweet.
12) Kate, 32, a real estate agent from Lake Hollywood, California came out saying, "Hello, handsome! Wow!" She called him a "tall drink of water." She said they would both feel better if they each held one of her nips. He was like, "um, okay." And she took out two little bottles of liquor and they each drank them.
13) Sierra, 26, is a recruiting coordinator from Dallas. She told Clayton that she's his wife from back in the future and since he's going to choose her any way she says, "Do you want to just get out of here?" Clayton laughed it off and they hugged it out.
14) Melina, 27, is a personal trainer from West Hollywood who came in hopping on some moon shoes.
15) Hailey, 26, is a pediatric nurse from Orlando, Florida. She said she's self-sufficient, but sometimes she needs help with some things. Then she presented Clayton with a pickle jar to open. He was super relieved that he could indeed open it.
16) Jill, 26, is an architectural historian from Rhode Island. She brought the ashes of her ex-boyfriends and she said she brought them there in case he made the same mistake.
17) Marlena, 30, is a former Olympian from Virginia Beach who threw a penalty flag out of the limo. She told him he was 15 yards from being "so fine."
18) Jane, had no age listed at first, but then it revealed she's 33. She's a social media director from Los Angeles. She drove up in a vintage car from the 1950s and told Clayton she's been called a cougar once or twice and she hopes that he can appreciate the classics.
19) Holly, 63 a retiree from Boca Raton, Florida came out of the car next and said that she's a mother of two and she wants to have grandchildren. She's there for the older senior "Bachelor." She's there actually to introduce him to Rachel, the 25-year-old flight instructor we met earlier. She said that Holly was her "wing-woman" to get her in there.
20) Ivana, 31, is a bar mitzvah dancer from Queens. She stayed silent, blew him a kiss, and motioned that he could talk to her inside.
21) Kira, 32, is a physician from Philadelphia. She came out in lingerie and her doctor's coat! Wow. She told him that she was there to give him a full body physical.
22) Mara, 32, is an entrepreneur from New Jersey who said her name is pronounced like marinara. She said she's also a little spicy and saucy.
23) Rianna, 26, is a registered nurse from Dallas. She wore a cowboy hat and said she was originally going to ride a horse up there to meet him but why don't they, "save a horse and he can ride a cowgirl." "Oh my gosh," Clayton said.
24) Eliza, 25, is a marketing manager from Berlin, Germany. She brought a sausage that they both took a bite out of at each end.
25) Gabby, 30, is the ICU nurse we met earlier. She brought a pillow "so she would have somewhere comfortable to sit later," but then she turned the pillow around and it had a picture of Clayton's face and she said, "Really, I just want to sit on your face." HA!
26) Elizabeth, 32, who we also met earlier brought a whip and spanked Clayton.
27) Hunter, 28, an HR specialist from Charlotte, North Carolina brought a snake! She had it around her neck like Brittany Spears! She said that she believes in "Love at first hiss."
28) Samantha, 26, is an occupational therapist from San Diego. She rolled up in a bathtub covered in bubbles.
She offered him a glass of champagne and she told him she was going to get changed inside.
29) Cassidy, 26, is an executive recruiter from Los Angeles. She drove up in a tiny children's car. She wanted to make a big entrance.
30) Lastly, Shanae, who we met earlier, plowed through the entrance and into the tiny car that Cassidy drove up in, in a huge truck. She told Clayton she wanted to go big because she was from a small town.
Cocktail Party Begins
Clayton walked into the room of 30 women and welcomed them to the mansion. He told them that he's never seen so many beautiful women in one room. He told the women that he was nervous and the experience didn't feel real to him. Clayton said he was excited and humbled to get to each of them. He said, "I want to get down on one knee at the end of this." He's serious!
He pulled Susie aside to chat first and she told him that despite being nervous his kind eyes calmed her. She asked him how he was doing and he said that he keeps questioning how he got there as a guy from a small town in Missouri. She promised to keep him on his toes. They seemed to have an opposites attract thing going on.
Elizabeth showed Clayton a photo of her great-grandparents' wedding in Sweden. She said there were so many things that needed to happen in order for them to meet. She seemed to make a good impression. She let him keep the 100-year-old photo to hold onto it.
Teddi told Clayton that she was glad it was him as the "Bachelor." She said he was the one guy out of the whole season that she said she would have wanted to meet. Clayton told Teddi that he felt an instant connection to her. She said that there's a definite spark for her too! Then they kissed! Wow! But then, the other women saw him kissing Teddi!
Kira, the lingerie-wearing doctor said she wanted to make his heart beat faster and she started kissing him! The other women found it gut-wrenching to watch them kiss. Then it became the goal of every woman there to get a kiss.
Eliza did her best to teach him some German, and the question was, "Can I kiss you?" Clayton said, "How can I say, yes?" Then they shared a kiss and they also seemed to have chemistry. Is there anyone Clayton doesn't have chemistry with?! Jesse Palmer walked into the room of women and put down the first impression rose!
Clayton played with the snake, jumped on the moon shoes, drove in tiny cars, and did a lot of kissing! He's not afraid to put his lips to work! Mara interrupted another Clare's tailgating date to share some of her spicy homemade sauce with him. Clare told the other women that she was uncomfortable with Clayton and that he's too nice for her. I think she got a bit too drunk. The other women were shocked at what she was saying to all of them. She was flat out saying, "I hate him." Of course, the women tipped him off and he was like, wow, "hate's a strong word."
Confronting Clare
Clayton asked Clare if they could go speak outside. He confronted her about what he heard she was saying and she said that she just felt like they "didn't click." She said, "I don't hate you." He then walked her out and the other women all felt bad for him. Clayton asked the women to all gather together and sit down and he said he wanted them to know that he sent Clare home. He asked if anyone else wanted to leave and the women all just laughed. "We're not going anywhere!" one woman called out.
Genevieve did her best to reassure him that she and the other women are all absolutely there for him. She hoped that one bad one wouldn't ruin his feelings on the experience. He assured her it wouldn't and they talked about how both of their parents had long-running successful marriages. He loved how genuine she was in their conversation.
Clayton sought Rachel out and said that he had been dying to talk to her. He told her that he didn't know if he could ever fly a plane like she does. He did say that he would consider skydiving! They had a cute conversation and then started kissing.
First Impression Rose
All the women gasped as Clayton walked into the room and picked up the first impression rose, and then walked out. It was no surprise that he pulled Teddi aside and offered her the rose. She accepted and they kissed some more. "Kissing Teddi, I feel complete," he said, "It just feels right." Then, Jesse announced it was time for the rose ceremony!
Rose Ceremony
1) Teddi (First Impression Rose)
2) Serene
3) Susie
4) Eliza
5) Rachel
6) Ency
7) Sarah
8) Kate
9) Cassidy
10) Elizabeth
11) Kira
12) Shanae
13) Sierra
14) Mara
15) Marlena
16) Genevieve
17) Melina
18) Gabby
19) Jill
20) Lyndsey W.
21) Hunter
22) Tessa
Coming Up
There's a lot of drama and crying! The girls might have played nice on night one, but it certainly doesn't last. Clayton will get to travel around the world, they are locked down no more! "I do believe that my future wife is here," Clayton says. He tells three women that he loves them along the way... but who will he choose? And will they want to be with him after he reveals that he was intimate with more than one of them?
ALSO READ: Meet the 31 women vying for Clayton's heart on 'The Bachelor'