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Bachelorette Blowup: Charity's Controversial First Impression Rose, Most Unusual Contestant Ever?

Charity Lawson's first night as the Bachelorette may have started with 26 guys, but two of them quickly garnered all of the attention for their unexpected and unusual behavior — plus, her big brother Nehemiah goes undercover to spy on the guys.

“The Bachelorette” kicked off its 20th season on Monday night with a fairly confident Charity Lawson taking over the lead and perhaps one of the least confident contestants the franchise has ever seen leaving fans at home scratching their heads.

The night also saw her big brother, Nehemiah, join the proceedings. First, Jesse Palmer faked her out by teasing that the next guy to get out of a limo would be someone she already knows. She didn’t expect her brother.

Then, without her even knowing, he took it a step further and disguised himself (badly) as a bartender so he could spy on what the guys were saying about her behind her back. Mostly, though, the guys proved themselves not to be “dogs,” though one did stand out to her “undercover brother.”

As always, Night One is a bit overwhelming, with so many new faces that it gets hard to tell them apart and keep their names straight. Honestly, we think ABC should just keep chryons up at all times with their names to help us out. At least until we’re down to around 10 or so, okay?

Usually, the big highlight coming out of the limo is the wild and wacky first impressions, but these guys were definitely subdued compared to past seasons. The craziest prop was probably an oversized check because Sean wanted to give his heart to Charity.

Get it?

Surprising First Impression

Honestly, though, the most memorable first impression stood out because it left everyone at home squirming, and Charity looked deeply uncomfortable, too. The guy introducing himself, Spencer, seemed just as uncomfortable.

If we’re being honest, it’s not even easy to write about him because there’s every chance that he’s neurodivergent, or perhaps just severely socially awkward. He shook off his own behavior as nerves, but it continued throughout this entire first night, every time he interacted with Charity.

We didn’t really get to see him around the other guys, which could have helped determine if it was nerves around her, or just his demeanor.

Aside from long pauses, mid-sentence at times, and dramatic facial expressions, Spencer’s comments themselves were a little odd at times. Even the way he told her fairly normal things came across unusual, with abrupt changes of topic, like when he suddenly was telling her he had a son, and reaction changes.

In confessionals, he was a little more subdued, but didn’t seem to have a real good read on how he was coming across — though that’s probably true for most of us. He seems to be a genuine person who is taking this seriously, but he’s definitely got fans at home a little unsure how to take him.

Charity was showing a lot of patience with him, though, even as she sometimes tried to finish his thoughts when he would briefly stall out while trying to express himself. Perhaps the biggest surprise for fans, though, was that he did get the final rose of the night. At least it will give us all a little longer to try and get a better read on him.

If he was nervous, maybe all of those behavioral tics will calm down in the next episode. Especially as it was meaningful to him that she accepted him after he shared that he’s a father. Now, with a rose behind him, that validation is even more solidified.

Surprise! First Impression Rose!

The biggest surprise of the night, though, came before the final Rose Ceremony, and Spencer getting the final rose of the night. Instead, it was the fallout from Nehemiah’s undercover performance that left every guy in the room’s jaw hanging open.

After listening to the guys chatter, we have to say that we were perhaps as surprised as Nehemiah was at how genuine and decent they were all coming across. Like he said, guys can be “dogs,” but casting seemed to do a pretty good job of weeding them out.

Of course, the cameras were also on them the whole time and it is Night One, so maybe some of the “dogs” were still keeping their truths on the down-low. Time will tell what reveals itself as the season progresses. Teasers have already shown lots of tears and frustration, so we know it’s coming!

For Nehemiah, the only real red flag he saw was a little bit — okay, a lot bit — of enthusiastic showboating and boasting after an admittedly stellar first encounter with Charity.

Your girl was not holding back when it came to taking what she wanted from these fellas, and in some cases, what she wanted was a liplock. In the case of Brayden, that turned into several long kisses that went on so long, the other guys waiting in the queue to talk to her started noticing.

If they didn’t notice, they needn’t have worried, because Brayden proceed to talk all about it to anyone who would listen — and even those trying not to listen. That included the bartender with the sketchy “Steve Harvey” mustache, aka Nehemiah.

After revealing himself to the guys to make them squirm, Nehemiah sat down with Charity and told her what he heard from Brayden and why it was a bit off-putting for him. He felt it crossed the line from confidence to cocky and arrogant when Brayden said he was feeling pretty confident about the First Impression Rose after their one-on-one-time.

Afterward, Charity pulled Brayden aside to hear his take on all that boasting, and then left him sitting there for awhile while she thought about what he’d said and what her brother said. When she came back, though, she pulled the rug out from under him.

It was all a ruse! Apparently, she liked that he was confident — liked it enough to give him the First Impression Rose and then lock lips some more.

Meanwhile, the other guys were all convinced Brayden was being shown the door, so they were completely flabbergasted when he came in with the First Impression Rose. He was shocked to receive it, they were even more shocked that he received it.

Game on, fellas. Game on! You thought you knew this woman, maybe you don’t know her as well as you think you do.

Eliminations & Predictions

By the end of the night, there were only 19 guys left. That meant we said goodbye to six guys, including one who holds the world record for standing jump and kept doing backflips to try and impress her. Again, they don’t yet know her as well as they think they do.

That guy, Chris, was joined by Joe, Khalid, Nic, Peter and Taylor heading out the door. Taylor had a cute first impression coming out of the limo, pretending he was filming a video of himself meeting their mom for the first time, but that wasn’t enough to survive the night, either.

Of the 19 left, we definitely can’t say that they all managed to stand out in some way. Most seasons, though, the ones that don’t really stand out also don’t really last. For example, despite getting no time with her, Dotun made an impression on us, so we have a feeling he might do well.

Her connection with Brayden feels a little surface-level, so he feels more like a middle-of-the-pack guy. Plus, he’s also rubbing the other guys wrong, as he did Nehemiah, and there’s only so much of that you can hear. It already looks like the other guys are going to start targeting him, per the promos.

Other guys who seem to be off to a strong start include Xavier, who was the first guy we saw her kiss and she seems to have this magnetic draw to him. She also had a strong connection with Joey, the first person we saw her chat with, who was very sweet in keeping her warm and making sure she knows how valued she is.

So we’ll go ahead and say that Xavier, and Joey make it the distance, with question marks around Dotun. Beyond that, we have no idea. Caleb B seems genuinely sweet, but we just don’t see it and the rest are still little more than blank slates. We shall see!

First Impression Chatter

• “Wow, the sparkles match your eyes.” –Aaron B
• “I got a lucky coin. I’m gonna flip it. If it’s heads, we get engaged. If it’s tails, I pack my bags, I go home.” –Aaron B
• “So this is a plumeria flower. A lot of women in Hawai’i wear them above their ear … A little known fact is that you wear it above your right ear when you’re available and you wear it above your left when you’re taken. So hopefully, by the end of this journey, I’ll be the reason why you want to wear it above your left.” –Joey
• “Fun story, my parents actually met on a flight. I went ahead and booked us a flight. Hopefully we have the opportunity to have something like my parents have.” –Warwick
• “Listen to that. That is a heart beating just for you.” –Caleb A (lets her listen with a stethoscope)
• “When I knew that you were the Bachelorette, I literally flipped out” –Chris (does backflip)
• “I work as a nurse … gotta be responsible and make sure we’re up to date on our shots.” –Brayden (with two shot glasses)
• “My name is Spencer. Charity? Um, well, I’ll tell you more about me. I guess, for instance, me, I’m Spencer.” –Spencer (very nervous and … we’re not even sure)
• “Alright, kids. I’m meeting your mom for the first time.” –Taylor (filming himself getting out of limo)
• “This process made me feel very grateful and I wanted to make a donation to Charity.” –Sean (with oversized check)
• “You will meet the man of your dreams tonight. His name is John.” –Charity (reading fortune cookie John gives her)
• “I’m just as shocked as you are. You picked a good one.” –John

Mansion Chatter

• “Okay, I’m done. That guy’s doing backflips and I’m in HR.” –Nic (watching Chris introduce himself)
• “I think my first interaction with Charity, it seems like we maybe did have a bit of a spark there. We had a moment.” –Spencer (it was an uncomfortable moment)
• “There’s no way she remembers each and every one of us walking in here, man. Real women don’t remember pickup lines.” –Aaron S
• “The men to women ratio here is not ideal.” –Sean
• “You look so beautiful. I’m so excited for you.” –Nehemiah (surprising Charity out of limo)
• “There are a lot of guys here. She’s not going to be able to see and hear everything. Charity thinks I’m just here to be supportive of her journey, but she has no idea that I’m going to be watching out for everything these guys say and do … so tonight, I’m about to become Undercover Brother.” –Nehemiah (getting into disguise as a bartender)
• “I hope that if you can take anything from this night it’s that all these guys are really happy that you’re the person that’s here, and [I’m] just stoked to get the opportunity to know you more.” –Joey
• “I didn’t know she was gonna do that.” –James (finding a letter from his mom to Charity)
• “That kiss is almost too good to be true. LIke, too good, too good.” –Charity (after kissing Xavier)
• “Because I’m the older brother I’m on the lookout, because men can be dogs.” –Nehemiah (in disguise)
• “So dating-wise, I don’t go after the petite type. I definitely go after the curvaceous type. That’s not a problem, you know what I’m saying. That’s just based on, I was in the South for 10 years, you know what I’m saying?.” –Michael (petite Charity is from Georgia)
• “It is a full display of mating season on Animal Planet. The male suitors are doing their best to woo the only female in the home. You’re seeing every man in heat, twisting their wings, showing off their testosterone in hopes to woo the woman.” –Aaron S (as Chris and Caleb B do backflips)
• “No, leave it on, it’s my badge of honor.” –Brayden (Charity tries to wipe off lipstick after they kiss)
• “I’ve heard some good things from you guys tonight, and I’ve heard some other things that I’m a little questionable about. So, with that being said, I’m gonna talk to my sister for a little bit. Best of luck to you guys.” –Nehemiah (after revealing himself to the guys)
• “You never want to come off like a cocky a–hole. I was just excited.” –Brayden (after Charity calls him out post-Nehemiah talk)
• “Brayden has every right to feel confident because I want someone who’s here for me, who’s excited about me, and someone who doesn’t have a problem making that known.” –Charity (after making Brayden squirm before giving him the First Impression Rose)

“The Bachelorette” continues next Monday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.