Arie takes the driver's seat as 'The Bachelor'
NEW YORK -- Cue the racing references, it's time for Arie to speed into a new relationship. Just as fast as we are introduced to our "Bachelor" Arie Luyendyk, Jr., we are whisked into the past. There was a quick recap of Arie's time on "The Bachelorette." Five years ago, he fell in love with Emily Maynard, but sadly for him, she didn't feel the same way. She let him go brokenhearted. He even tried to travel to Charlotte to give Emily his journal which was full of his feelings for her. She refused to read it. It was like twisting the knife for poor Arie. Presently, he's still racing, but he's also now working in real estate and says he's slowed his life down quite a bit. After watching his brother get married and seeing his buddy, past "Bachelor" Sean Lowe get married and have a family, Arie says he wants that for himself too. He's still the same Arie, but this time with some salt and pepper hair! And, in case you didn't know, his nickname on "The Bachelorette" was "The Kissing Bandit." We'll see if he behaves the same way as "The Bachelor!"
Check out the women vying for Arie's heart below:
Next, we were introduced to a few of the women vying for Arie's heart. First up was single mom Chelsea from Portland. She's 29 and also works in real estate. She said that she feels great that the "Bachelor" is Arie because he was interested in dating Emily Maynard who was also a single mom.
26-year-old Caroline is a realtor from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She's only been working in real estate for a short time, but she's been killing it. She says having a family is very important to her. She also claims to have grown up around cars.
23-year-old Maquel is a wedding photographer from Orem, Utah. She's very young and seems to have rose-colored glasses when it comes to love. She says she really wants to get married and did watch Arie during his time on "The Bachelorette."
Nisha is a mature 30 (one of only six women ages 30+) and works as an orthopedic nurse in Anderson, South Carolina. She's a thrill seeker who seems to know what she wants to get out of life.
26-year-old Tia lives in Weiner, Arkansas. She's a small town girl who seems very reminiscent of Raven from Nick's season of "The Bachelor." Oh wait, that's because they are great friends! How funny! She lives on a farm and likes to shoot guns.
Kendal is 26 and from Los Angeles. She's into collecting taxidermy and has never had a relationship more than a year. She's an interesting character who plays a mean ukulele.
Bekah is a 22-year-old nanny from Los Angeles. She is very nurturing but loves to thrill seek and rock climb. She seems like she could be a good match for Arie, but she is very young!
Marikh is 27 and from Salt Lake City, Utah. She came out punching, literally with her coach. She also runs and owns an Indian restaurant with her mother. She says she believes in fate and hopes Arie is ready for her spice!
29-year-old Krystal lives in San Diego and works as an online fitness coach. She volunteers with the homeless because her brother has been living on the streets for the past two years. She says she treats the homeless the way she hopes people treat her brother. Unfortunately, she says her family has tried to help her brother, but he's just not ready to receive it just yet. Just when I was ready to judge her for having some kind of made up job, she turns out to have an amazing heart and seems like a great person.
Get excited! It's time for Arie to meet these lovely ladies in person! After a pep talk from his old buddy and show host Chris Harrison, the limos started to arrive. First out of the limo was Caroline the relator from Florida. She stepped on his toes and apologized for being clumsy. She made a joke about how they are both realtors and how if they play their cards right they could "both be off the market." Arie thought that she was a fantastic start and was really impressed!
Arie said, "Wow" when single mom Chelsea from Portland, Maine, got out of the limo. She had a very sultry, but boring introduction. Kendall from LA was next and they talked about how nervous they both were. 27-year-old Sienne from California was out next and she gave him some elephant cuff links because they are her favorite animal. She noted that "an elephant never forgets" so he should not forget to find her inside. It was a classy introduction for sure. He thought she was beautiful. 26-year-old Tia was out next and they made a joke about being from Weiner and she gave him a little tiny weiner and hoped that he didn't already have one. Ugh, but Arie liked her.
Bibiana said "Hola" and said that he made her heart "race." Briana is 25 and a sports reporter. She threw a ball at him and Arie actually caught it. He told Jenny that she was beautiful, and 27-year-old Brittane gave him a bumper sticker that said "nice butt." Jacqueline talked about how nervous he seemed but that they were all there to impress him.
Then out of the limo came the stunning Krystal. She talked about loving making people see the best version of themselves. He was blown away by her. Nysha the nurse went for a hug as the women lamented at how pretty everyone is. 25-year-old Valerie got a spin from "The Bachelor" as she danced her way in.
The women looked on as Bekah, the nanny, pulled up in a beautiful classic car and said that although she's young s he can still appreciate a classic. Arie said, "She is so beautiful!"
Jenna, a 28-year-old from North Carolina, told Arie that she loves her life but she's missing a strong handsome man to share her life with. Arie said, "She is so pretty!" 26-year-old Jessica is a television host and she gave Arie a gratitude rock because she is so grateful to share the experience with him. Marikh told Arie that her restaurant could use some more "salt and pepper." Haha. Olivia is 23 from Chicago and admitted she loved watching Arie on Emily's season.
Becca, a 27-year-old from Minneapolis, had Arie pretend to propose and say, "Rebecca Jill, are you ready to do this damn thing?" He said, "Yes!"
Yet another limo arrived and Lauren S. a 31-year-old from Texas came out, then it was Lauren J. who gave him some giant Mardi Gras beads. Yet another Lauren, this time Lauren B. from Dallas came out, and last but not least, Lauren G. from LA. Four Laurens! Good luck "Bachelor Nation!" It will be tough to keep it all straight as far as who is who this season!
Next was Ashley who came up waving a racing flag and said that she hopes they make it to the finish line. 30-year-old Brittany from Texas tried to say "you're handsome" in Dutch. 29-year-old Amber told him that she owns a spray tan company and said that she's seen a lot of "expletives" in her line of work and she hopes he isn't one. Ew.
Ali is 27 and a personal stylist and she had Arie made him take a "pit stop" and smell her armpits! WHAT!? Ok that was awful. Annaliese came out in a mask and said that she knows he's "The Kissing Bandit" so she wanted him to come find her because she's stealing kisses. Not to be outdone, Maquel arrived in a race car! Arie thought it was "super cool."
Thank goodness, that's all of them. All of the ladies are now inside "Bachelor Mansion." Arie went inside, got a standing ovation and gave an opening toast.
Chelsea got the first sit-down with Arie. He told her that he found her mysterious and she said she likes to make things interesting. She talked about making a sacrifice to be on the show (aka giving up time with her son) but did not reveal that yet. Maquel interrupted Chelsea and no surprise, Chelsea was not a fan of that. Arie told a beautiful brunette by the fire that this accelerated can work and he thinks that dedicating all of your time to finding love will help it happen. Arie seemed to be very genuine with all of the ladies he spoke to.
He had a hilarious power wheels minicar race with Brittany, and she told him if she won, she wanted to get a kiss. He did give her a short kiss, right on the lips! She said he lives up to his name, "The Kissing Bandit." She wasted no time going into the house and bragging about it to the other ladies. They were shocked!
Kendal played her ukulele for Arie, while Lauren G. fed him a fruit while he closed his eyes. He guessed it was a pineapple and she joked that pineapple is her "safe word." Ha, she's actually quite funny. Jenna gave him a foot massage and jumped around from topic to topic, and Arie found her to be a little wild, but he's intrigued. He then met up with his "Kissing Bandit" counterpart and he took of her mask, and Arie found Annaliese to be very sincere and he really liked her.
Becca read Arie some questions from her mother while Arie complimented her on getting him to propose when they first met. They had a very playful exchange. Chris Harrison then brought out the first impression rose! The women started clamoring for a chance to steal Arie away for a conversation. That rose really upped the ante. Chelsea felt like she was cheated out of her time, so she decided to go interrupt Krystal. They had a chat by the fire and she even went in for a kiss! Wow, and it was a real one! "I think my job is done," Chelsea said. She's definitely going to be the one you love to hate this season it seems.
Bekah and Arie got some time alone to talk in her fun classic car. She asked him to name why he's grateful to be alive. He said, good food and good company while she talked about loving the smell of pine trees and the feeling of wondering if someone likes you. She's 14 years younger than him, so that's quite a bit! He does really seem to like her though.
Arie walked in, picked up the first impression rose and walked over to Chelsea and asked to talk to her! Oh she is OFFICIALLY the most hated woman in the house! Let's hope she can stand the heat! She knew exactly what she was doing and Arie even said that he was glad that she stole him away a second time. That was a big kick in the stomach for all of the other ladies who felt a connection with him. With that, Chris Harrison walked in and stole Arie away to make his decisions on who would continue on to week two.
Arie handed out roses to:
1) Chelsea (First Impression Rose)
2) Becca K. (proposal girl)
3) Marikh (Indian restaurant owner)
4) Kendall (taxidermist ukulele player)
5) Lauren G.
6) Krystal (Gives to homeless)
7) Bekah (loves the classics)
8) Lauren S.
9) Sienne
10) Caroline
11) Brittany T. (tiny cars)
12) Bibiana (Hola)
13) Annaliese (kissing bandit)
14) Jenna (foot massage)
15) Valerie
16) Jacqueline
17) Jenny
18) Lauren B.
19) Ashley
20) Tia
21) Maquel
That meant that Jessica the TV host whose father met Arie was out, spray tan was out, and a few others as well. 21 women is still a lot of ladies for Arie to get to know. Let's hope the dates help him on his way to narrowing down the field some more next week!
The preview of this season showed Arie and his ladies traveling the world, visiting Paris, Pisa, Tuscany, to name a few locations. The ladies seemed to be smitten with Arie, but the drama does come out. There is A LOT of crying, even by our leading man. After a lot of soul searching it appears that he has found someone that he wants to be with, but will she love him back? The big bombshell is that some dude shows up trying to ask an ex-girlfriend to marry him. It's unclear at what point in the season this happens, but hopefully all will end well for our "Bachelor" Arie!
