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Article Highlights:

  • The mens’ entrences
  • Michelle’s first impression rose winner (and first kiss)
  • Who the bachelorette sent home and who she kept
Michelle Young talking to a contestant, clinking glasses of red wine.
Michelle Young on ‘The Bachelorette’ | Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images

Michelle Young‘s season of The Bachelorette premiered last night and holy production value! Driving alongside Palm Springs’ famous windmills, the lead made her entrance in a cherry-red convertible. The rest of the night, the Edina, Minnesota native dazzled in a sparkling fitted dress gliding through the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, California. For those who didn’t tune in to the first episode of the season, here’s what you missed.

Tayshia and Kaitlyn play Bachelorette detectives and the mens’ entrences

Before the men met Michelle, hosts Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe poked through some of the mens’ hotel rooms. Kaitlyn suggested that you can learn a lot about a person by how they keep their room when traveling. But in one of the contestant’s rooms, they found something unexpected: folders of notes on how to “get a good edit” and avoid becoming the villain, among other things.

Back at the front of the resort, the men were getting ready to pull up in their limos and meet Michelle. Clayton gave Michelle a ruler in case he exhibits “bad behavior.” She gave him a light spank — “I’m gonna be nice; it’s your first day of school.” Continuing the school theme for Teacher Michelle, Chris S., a commodities broker, rode up in a school bus and little boy’s school uniform. Moving away from the school theme, yoga instructor LT came out in a Speedo with a little tuxedo on the front. Then, a dining table with a large silver platter was rolled out to Michelle. On the serving cart were bowls of strawberries, bread, and grapes. When Michelle lifted the lid, there was contestant Rick’s head, smiling and excited to make his Bachelorette debut. Next was Ryan, the contestant who had notes in his hotel room, who came out in an ice cream truck (one of Michelle’s favorite treats). Circling back to the teacher theme, Rodney came out dressed as an apple — for his “favorite teacher, just trying to be the apple of your eye.” Daniel the firefighter rolled up in a tiny toy firetruck that got Michelle laughing. But then came PJ, also a fireman, in a real fire truck, lights and sirens blazing. Then, Michelle (re)met Joe. As he was walking away, the bachelorette realized they’d spoken before. She slid into his DMs and after talking a bit of basketball, he ghosted her.

Tough conversations and Michelle’s first impression rose

After Michelle gave a confident, eloquent speech celebrating the start of her Bachelorette journey, the cocktail party portion of the evening began. One of the early conversations Michelle had was with Joe, the man who’d previously ghosted her. When she asked him why he’d stopped responding, he told her, at the time, he was not in a place to start a relationship after the murder of George Floyd. She said he could have told her that and she would have understood. He told her he was going to therapy to work on his communication skills, and while Michelle said she respected a Black man seeking out therapy, she told him she’d have to think about whether she wanted to continue their relationship or not.

A bit later, Tayshia and Kaitlyn pulled Michelle aside to tell her what they’d found in Ryan’s room. She then confronted him and asked him to take her to his room to show her the notes. After leafing through them, Michelle decided to send Ryan home, her concern being that Ryan’s notes were more about how to become a Bachelor Nation star than they were about getting to know her (though there was some of that too). He asked if there was anything he could do to change her mind. She said he needed to respect her red flags and proceeded to walk him out.

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When it came time to give out her first impression rose, Michelle decided on Nayte. When they first spoke, he told her being vulnerable didn’t come naturally to him, but he was going to try his best for her. She awarded him the rose because she appreciated him pushing through and being himself. When they kissed (the first of the season) Michelle said she felt “sparks and butterflies.”

Who Michelle sent home and who she kept

After Michelle gave roses to Alec, Brandon J., Casey, Chris G., Chris S., Clayton, Daniel, Jamie, Leroy, LT, Martin, Mollique, Olumide, Pardeep, Peter, PJ, Rick, Rodney, Romeo, Spencer, and Will, she excused herself from the podium before awarding her final rose. She was torn about giving Joe a rose — “Why now? Why did you wait? Is it because I’m the bachelorette?” In the end, she decided to take a chance on Joe, sending Brandon K., Bryan, Edward, Garrett, Jack, and JoMarri home.

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