On Monday night, Hannah Brown kicked off her journey to find love on season 15 of ABC’s The Bachelorette. Former Miss Alabama and Roll Tide Alum, this Tuscaloosa native got her start on Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor this past winter. Coming in 7th place, Hannah received mixed reviews from Bachelor Nation. Some thought she was crazy and unintelligent, while some found her endearing and relatable. I was part of the latter group, so I was very excited to see her get her chance at love. Whether you like her or not, I think all will find her season enjoyable.
Hannah began the show bright-eyed and glowing. She wore a silvery sequined gown and was greeted by her best friends from Colton’s season, Demi and Katie. She then received the classic pump-up talk from Chris Harrison right before her evening began. Waiting outside the mansion for the limos to arrive, Chris Harrison asked her if she was looking for anything in particular in a man, or if she had a type. She replied that she didn’t, and although “southern is comfortable,” she was open to anything. Finally, the first limo pulled in, and the entrances began!
The men are CUTE this season. The interviews beforehand showed some charming promises: Tyler from Juniper, FL is a contractor who loves to dance, Connor J from Newport Beach is a car salesman who loves his family, and Joe from Chicago, IL is “the box king” who, um, just loves boxes?
Most rolled up to her in the limo, but some had grand entrances. Joe the box king popped out of a cardboard box, Matt from Los Gatos came in on a tractor, Cam (the winner of the first impression rose on the After The Final Rose finale on Colton’s season) busted out with a new rap made just for her. But my personal favorite was Connor S, an investment banker from Dallas, TX who literally jumped the fence of the Bachelor Mansion to introduce himself. If you watched Colton’s season, this should make you smile, especially when I tell you that his pick up line was that he would always jump fences for her—Hannah was giddy!!!!
Inside the mansion, the men were pulling out ALL the stops. Jed from Nashville pulled out his guitar and sang her a song he wrote just for her. Connor J set up a party outside the mansion with pink balloons and games and told her it was her “bachelorette party” (corny but it was actually cute). And the three men who went in for a kiss all got them—Luke P, Connor S and Cam!
But of course, this IS The Bachelorette, so it wouldn’t be complete without some DRAMAAAA. So here’s the tea: Demi and Katie were out in the lot in a van monitoring her evening. They were watching her ineract with her men, and keeping their eye out for men they liked and didn’t like. However, they were on special lookout for one particular man named Scott. Demi explained that she had received direct messages over social media that day informing her that Scott, one of the contestants, had a girlfriend—one he was seeing currently—and that he had told his girlfriend just a few days before (over text) that they would be together when all this was over. Demi and Katie immediately notified Hannah when they caught wind of this, but only after Hannah had a pleasant conversation with him (of course). When Hannah finally found out, she handled it in the best way.
She took absolutely no BS. She walked right into Bachelor Mansion after her meeting with Demi and Katie, she pointed her finger at him and told him to follow her (not in a nice way). She then sat him down in the other room and told him how disrespectful it was of him to come on this show, not only because of what it could do to Hannah, but because of his actual girlfriend at home. He then proceeded to LIE and act as if him and his girlfriend, whom he admitted to talking to on Monday, were “not really dating.”
This being an even worse response, Hannah asked, “How dare you?” and told him to get out. Literally. She told him she was done with this, and walked him right out the door. When finally outside, she said “go on, get,” and I think THAT is the moment where every member of Bachelor Nation who felt negative toward her being chosen as the Bachelorette, changed their minds. Or at least, every woman. She stood up for herself and did not let that man’s rude way of speaking to her discourage her. In her position of power, she still managed to gracefully and yet forcefully remove him from the situation. I encourage you to watch it—she was in full savage mode.
After this drama took up a whole hour of their introductory evening, Hannah was upset and needed to be alone. Of course, on The Bachelorette, you’re never really alone. So one hopeful bachelor took it upon himself to go make her feel better—and it worked. Luke P swooped in and saved the day, giving her a shoulder to cry on. He not only landed a kiss, but also the first impression rose! (Yes ladies, we have our new front runner).
The episode ended with a rose ceremony as per usual, and it’s pretty classic of the first night’s rose ceremony to be relatively anti-climactic because well, we don’t really know the guys yet. Hannah ended up sending five guys home at the rose ceremony, so if you factor in Scott, she sent a total of six men home night one. That leaves a lucky bunch of 24 men still vying for the former Miss Alabama’s heart.
This season looks like its going to be a bumpy ride, and I really do encourage you to watch—even if you have some weird thing against Hannah B. Yes, she can be weird, and yes, she had her unintelligible moments on Colton’s season, but if there is anything to be taken away from last night’s episode, it’s that she is actually a proud, driven, independent, incredibly relatable and powerfully strong woman looking for a partner in her life. She will not stoop for any man, and she will fight for what she believes in every step of the way.
Tune in Monday nights at 8pm on ABC to watch!