The Bachelor 2023: Contenders, pretenders, and who needs to show us more after ep. 1

Zach Shallcross’s journey to find love began on Monday night as he welcomed 30 women to the mansion in the season premier of The Bachelor.

The women went light on the intro gimmicks — just some Vermont maple syrup, a pig and some slightly crass jokes — which was a welcome sight after multiple seasons where they got far too excessive. Much like every other first night, some women drank a little too much champagne, some made good first impressions and some panicked in the driveway about not getting enough time.

While 30 started the night on this journey for love, only 20 heard their names called by Zach in the first Rose Ceremony. Let’s take a look at some of the standouts from the premiere based on who is a contender, who has work to do and who is a pretender.