The Bachelorette Ali: New Season Kicks Off, Speed-Dating For Love on a Reality Show

Ali and ABC's The Bachelorette, televised summer romantic beach book fun.

The new season of Bachelorette kicked off last night with the former “The Bachelor” girl Ali Fedotowsky beginning the process of sorting through a gaggle of 25 eligible men to find true love. Ali having one-on-one time with each of the guys, Ali deciding which guy would get the “first impression” rose–Roberto–then Ali having to decide which of the 8 men she wouldn’t give a red rose by the end of the episode. It’s hard enough telling one guy you’re not interested, but 8 at one time after an evening of “speed-dating” with 25 guys? Luckily for Ali the 25 men were hand-picked by ABC and not the normal 25 men you’d meet at the average speed-dating session at a local club.

Ali seemed as if she understood the plight of the men awaiting their “rose” fate during the elimination rose ceremony as Ali had previously been in their figurative shoes with Jake. Almost, but not quite, as Ali, in the Bachelor, was the first woman Jake gave the “first impression” rose.

Ali, who opted to exit the Bachelor before the final four rose ceremony, never suffered the dreaded rejection from Jake. Ali was never booted off the Bachelor without a rose. Even so, Ali looked a tad bit nervous when handing out the roses. To find out who got eliminated, the men who failed to make a first impression on Ali–here’s a hint, never, ever, tell a woman you first met and are trying to impress you got your nickname from a premature ejaculation incident in college–here’s the link to BuddyTV.

I thought Ali looked cute. I also thought her blond hair looked over-processed, quite the opposite of when Ali was a contestant on The Bachelor. I wasn’t even going to mention the condition of Ali’s hair but then discovered the reviewer from the LA Times who did a Bachelorette recap had noticed Ali’s hair too:

Because I’m a girl and I have eyes, I can’t let this recap go any further without remarking on Ali’s hair. Did she steal Vienna’s weave on the last season of “The Bachelor”? I’m so disappointed. Her hair was so shiny and cute. I wanted to cut her head out of a magazine and bring it to my stylist. Now it’s straw-yellow and fuzzy-looking, and I can see where the extensions attach at the back of her head. Ugh.

Ali looked a tad plump, but only if you compare Ali to celebrity women who are obsessed with being ultra-fit and thin. Which, in a way, seems to add weight to Ali’s claim she’s on the show to find her true love and not celebrity fame. Ali, in my opinion, has a “beautiful girl next door” quality including the occasional dreaded “over-processed” hair with the range of emotions and quirks of most normal human beings . What doesn’t seem normal: Going on a reality show to find your true love. Twice. But then again, there’s a gazillion abnormal stories of how people met and fell in love but only a minuscule number of those stories involve meeting and falling in love while on a reality show.

Watching the premiere of The Bachelorette I was a tiny bit cynical about Ali’s motive for being on the show. My cynicism sprang more from ABC and their round-robin of reality contestants. Jake Pavelka, the former controversial Bachelorette contestant, the new Bachelor, then immediately after the Bachelor finale, a contestant on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. Ali, the controversial Bachelor contestant who became the next Bachelorette. Both Ali and Jake “broke” several of what I thought were the rules including once you’re eliminated, or left on your own accord, you weren’t supposed to try to contact the Bachelor or Bachelorette while the series was being filmed. It was apparent ABC made the decision some contestants should not only be allowed to break the rules but were also filmed while doing so. (It would be interesting to find out how many former contestants eliminated from the shows tried to finagle their way back onto the show, tried to contact the Bachelor or Bachelorette to sway their opinion, or broke other “rules”. The contestants ABC deemed had no future value as a potential ABC reality celebrity star.)

On a previous Bachelorette post I’d written about Ali and fame someone left a comment about Ali’s behavior during the Bachelor. A comment about the way Ali treated Vienna Girardi, Jake’s final pick, throughout the show. The comment reminded me of Ali’s behavior which, in my opinion, stemmed from Jake giving Ali the “first impression” rose and began after Ali’s first date with Jake. I could be wrong, but it seemed to me Ali believed she was a “shoe-in” for Jake giving her the final rose coupled with a personality clash between the two.

I was also cynical the recently heartbroken Ali could, within a relatively short span of time, renter the reality dating game fray to find true love. My cynicism stemmed from my own experience of being in love and heartbroken. An experience which took me a year to recover from. But Ali isn’t me and I’ve realized each of us is unique in how we handle a broken heart and have the right the reenter the fray whenever we chose.

Even though a highly reliable source, Reality Steve, has posted the spoilers including the final two guys Ali picks, spoilers which I read before last night’s premiere, the show was great fun to watch. Ali’s nervousness when first meeting the 25 men after they exited the limo. (It was fun to note which of the men were nervous and their very first “impression” on Ali.) Ali speed-dating the men and her reaction to their conversations. The little gifts–including a handmade scrapbook and a bracelet–the men gave Ali. The interaction between the men while Ali took each aside for the get-to-know and judge you chat. (The scrapbook guy didn’t get a rose.) The Canadian guy, Craig M., with the slicked back, car salesman hairstyle and attitude. The Canadian entertainment wrestler “Rated-R” who hobbled out of the limo with a crutch and a broken ankle in a cast. The men asked to write on cards who they thought was on the show for “different” reasons than falling in love with Ali. After their anonymous cards were tallied, Rated-R had been given the most negative comments forcing Ali to chose whether she’d keep Rated-R or immediately give him the boot. After a quick, private chat with Rated R, Ali decided she’d keep Rated-R which meant he was given the next rose before the elimination ceremony. Which meant the men who wrote down Rated-R’s name had ultimately given Rated-R the opportunity to relax during the elimination ceremony. Men which Ali may have chosen not to give a rose.

ABC’s The Bachelorette is televised summer romantic beach book fun. I’m looking forward to the “drama”, always feel sorry for those who get eliminated unless they’re total rats, and even though I’ve read the spoilers, it’ll be fun to watch the show in a kind of post-mortem way.

UPDATE: Based upon faulty memory, I wrote Ali got the first impression rose from Jake. Tenley got the first impression rose. Thanks to Matt for pointing this out!

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Tags: Ali, The Bachelorette