Recapping ‘The Bachelor,’ Episode 1: Did Rebekah from North Texas get a rose?
Season 29, Episode 1
Spoiler alert: Sometimes there are things you just don’t want to know, at least not yet. If you’re a true “Bachelor” fan and you haven’t watched Episode 1, don’t read this yet. Come back. We’ll be here when you’re ready.
Bachelor Mondays are back on ABC, and a North Texan is one of 25 women this season who are looking for love.
Rebekah Garrett, a 31-year-old ICU nurse from Dallas, is competing for Grant Ellis’ heart on season 29 of the dating reality series. Grant was formerly on Jenn Tran’s season of “The Bachelorette” (season 21). Grant made it to week six and got cut right before hometowns. We can only hope Rebekah makes it a little farther.
Rebekah is from Dallas. Grant, while born and raised in New Jersey, currently calls Houston home. It’s the perfect opportunity for Texans to follow their journey.
Here is what Bachelor Nation watched Monday night on episode one.
Who is Rebekah Garrett?
Rebekah Garrett is a 31-year-old ICU nurse from Dallas. She is the only woman from Texas this season.
Rebekah’s bio on ABC’s press site says she is “looking for someone to travel the world and start a family with, and is very interested in meeting someone gentle-hearted,” and she loves animals and playing Scrabble.
Rebekah meets Grant
Gran spent most of the episode awaiting the women in his classic black suit outside the grand Bachelor mansion. The ladies walked out of a limo one by one with their best pickup line to grab his attention.
Keep in mind — the man has to meet 25 new faces, so each woman’s first hello has to be memorable.
Rebekah wore a sky blue, glittery dress with bright red lipstick. During her first impression with Grant, she said, “I don’t think it was fair to you to look for your wife in a room that I wasn’t in,” and the two hugged.
Some of the other women went lengths by bringing a “No Drama Llama” or a giant cutout of Grant’s head. There was even a wedding cake.
Zoe McGrady, a 27-year-old tech engineer and model, brought a T-shirt gun and shot merchandise with her Grant’s faces on it over the mansion roof into the other girl’s laps. Good move.
Cocktail hour
Allyshia Gupta, a 29-year-old interior designer from Tampa, Fla., stole the first kiss of the season while the rest of the women anxiously waited for their turn to talk to Grant.
At one point, Grant’s sister, Taylor, walked in, causing heads to turn. All the women gathered around as she walked over to Ellis, thinking she was another contestant vying for his love. But really, she was just there to show the room full of women all his embarrassing family photos.
Rebekah sat and listened as Taylor answered questions from the women about her brother. The Dallas nurse was shown speaking with the Bachelor, but the conversation was not highlighted.
Who got the First Impression rose?
Toward the end of the episode, host Jesse Palmer brought in the First Impression rose — a symbol of who Grant felt the most connected to so far. Tonight, the First Impression rose is also a key to the first one-on-one date with Grant.
Grant picked up the rose in a room full of women, but he did not choose any of them. Instead, he walked outside, over to Alexe Godin, a 27-year-old speech therapist from Canada (who brought the “No Drama Llama”) and gave her the golden ticket of the night.
The next episode will feature their first date and the season’s first one-on-one.
Did Rebekah get a rose?
At the end of the episode, the ladies lined up and impatiently waited for Grant to hand out the red roses.
Out of 25 women, seven did not receive a rose, causing them to go home. The women who got eliminated were:
- J’Nae
- Christina
- Radhika
- Kyleigh
- Kelsey
- Neicey
- Savannah
Rebekah secured herself another week.
Episodes of “The Bachelor” air every Monday at 7 p.m. CST on ABC.