The Bachelorette premiere this week made history in the franchise, with two Bachelorettes starting their journey together. While the show has had two Bachelorettes greeting men on night one before during season 11, the men voted for which one to stay, but this time around, both women get to find love side by side.
The night kicked off like most season premieres with intro packages and limo entrances, but it’s pretty clear the men were intimidated by greeting them both at once. Only a few seemed prepared to handle the situation with grace. It will be interesting to see where the season goes, and Bachelor Nation is already prepared with the jokes and quality meme content.
The Clayton Burns
Whether the jokes came from Gabby and Rachel themselves, the men, or from the producers creating moments behind the scenes, there were plenty of jokes at Clayton’s expense. While both Gabby and Rachel said they didn’t want to hear about him or talk about him much, it was iconic when Rachel jokingly exclaimed the infamous line, “I am falling in love and it feels SO good!”
The biggest dig at Clayton by far was the “Clayton Sucks” song performed by a quartet. Hopefully Susie advised Clayton not to watch, but if he did tune in, it probably looked something like this meme by @petersgolfcart.
The Age Range
Some say age is just a number, but others really sense differences in maturity depending on what they’re looking for. Since Gabby and Rachel are five years apart with Rachel being 26 and Gabby being 31, it makes sense that the age range of men would be even broader than normal this season.
When the men were announced, there was criticism about a lot of them being too young. Fans like @wells4host noted that maybe Gabby wasn’t too excited about some of the men she was meeting, but time will tell how big of a factor age is for her.
Saying The Wrong Thing
There is a lot of pressure on contestants to make their limo entrances stand out, but sometimes they are better in theory than in execution. One of the men made a Clayton reference by saying he is in love with three women and went on to say he was referring to his mom, sister, and his cat.
While it sounds okay at first, the phrasing translates to being in love with a mother and a sister, which does not sound quite right as @whyarepplcrazy points out with this meme.
Thorough Fans
There is a wide variety of Bachelor fans in Bachelor Nation and clearly, Twitter user @HillaryTimlin’s boyfriend is one who likes to get ahead of the show and put his spreadsheet skills to good use.
The sneak peek of the season makes it look like there will be a lot of drama surrounding the men trying to choose between Gabby and Rachel, and the women dealing with people who they have feelings for developing stronger feelings for the other one. While many fans were hoping the women wouldn’t be put through another huge emotional wringer, it looks like they were.
Iconic Gabby Quotes
Gabby became a fan favorite during Clayton’s season of The Bachelor long before she ended up in the dramatic final three, and it was largely due to the hilarious things she says. Her humor is a big reason there has been so much excitement building up to seeing her in The Bachelorette role, and she did not disappoint.
@Kelsey_gage on Twitter highlights Gabby’s three greatest shots from night one that fans are already quoting all over the internet. She brings a certain energy to the role that the show has been missing, so it’s a breath of fresh air.
The Twins
It’s pretty predictable that The Bachelorette would cast a set of twins to go on a season that has two leads, but Rachel and Gabby clearly were not about it since the brothers went home at the end of night one.
It was clear very early on that Gabby in particular was not into the twin energy, which she soon confirmed during an ITM interview moment in the episode. Gabby’s face betrays her a lot of the time, so it’s easy to spot her not having a good time, and this face pairs perfectly with this obnoxious quote from the twins in this tweet by @KaitTayStans.
The First Elimination
By the end of the night, both Rachel and Gabby were clearly unimpressed with the twins and the magician. At first, when they were talking about the rose ceremony, it seemed like they were going to ask to cancel it altogether, which would make sense. If there are two Bachelorettes and more men than ever, why not essentially have two night ones?
Instead, these three gentlemen had enough time with the ladies for both of them to know they didn’t meet what they were looking for, but the elimination was terribly awkward. @Lindsayoz paraphrases it best.
The Headphones
One of the best limo entrances of the night was when one of the men brought a pair of noise-canceling headphones to help him since he said he didn’t know how to talk to two beautiful women at the same time.
It was smooth, charming, funny, and a great way to make the interactions with both women feel individualized and special. Apart from all of these wonderful things, it also created quite a fabulous meme template which @shitbachelor used perfectly to depict what it feels like when a bunch of friends get engaged all around the same time.
The New Promos
Two Bachelorettes was not the only new thing for the franchise during the premiere. They also seem to be taking a new approach to the casting promotions they play during the commercial break, featuring a Jesse Palmer voiceover that exclaims the quote in this meme by @OopsAllTrash.
While it’s a funny, catchy promo that stands out in a fun way, it’s also a huge tonal shift for the franchise, and kind of goes against an unspoken rule within the show itself that frowns upon people breaking up with a significant other just to go on the show.
Here We Go Again
During the beginning of the pandemic, the show had to stop in its tracks, and once it got going again, there were almost no breaks in seasons for six entries straight. The four-month hiatus in between Clayton’s season of The Bachelor and Rachel and Gabby’s season of The Bachelorette is the first break fans have gotten in a long time.
Watching The Bachelor franchise shows can be a love/hate relationship for many in Bachelor nation, and the internet jokes afterward have become one of the best parts of watching, but it comes with a small price of self-awareness and mild judgment, as @lindsayoz alludes to in this tweet.
