Chris Harrison Blogs 'The Bachelor' Season Premiere

Welcome back, Bachelor Nation! It’s a new year and I think we can all agree that there is no better way to start 2016 than with a big dose of Bachelor love and drama. The first night was full of twists and turns, and there are many more to come in what I have to say is definitely the most dramatic season in Bachelor history.

Ben is perhaps the most genuine, most caring, most sincere Bachelor we’ve ever had, and he came into this season ready to find the woman of his dreams. Ben was so popular that even some women who had been on the last season of The Bachelor — and in one case, Bachelor in Paradise — decided they wanted to give it another shot and see if their luck in love would be any different with Ben. So far, so good for Becca and Amber; they both got roses the first night, much to the chagrin of a couple of women who were sent home after just one night. We know Becca and Amber well, and we know that they came with sincere intentions, but of course whether or not they stayed was completely up to Ben. He decided to treat them no differently than anyone else and to not hold their past experiences against them. At the end of the night, he just had a better connection with them than with some of the other women.

There’s no question that the first night was wild and full of firsts. We had twins, Emily and Haley, and it’s going to be very interesting to see how they differentiate themselves as individuals now that they’ve both gotten roses. We had a dental exam. We had Huey, who, as you saw, I developed a pretty strong connection with.

And we had Lace. Lace is beautiful and bold, but she’s also clearly very unpredictable. Pulling Ben aside and confronting him after the first rose ceremony is a move I’ve never seen before. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of Lace in the coming week, and it’s pretty clear that Ben is going to have to navigate that relationship carefully.

Olivia got the first impression rose and as always, it’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out. Last season, Kaitlyn gave Shawn the first impression rose and they’re happily engaged and very much in love. But Britt got the first impression rose on Chris Soules’s season of The Bachelor, and she ended up being sent home before hometowns. One thing is for sure, the women in the house will be keeping a very close eye on Olivia.

Related: ‘The Bachelor’ Season Premiere Recap

As you saw, this is a season that is full of hope and promise. Ben and the women enter with open hearts and minds and there is a ton of romance, possibly more than we’ve ever seen. Speaking of firsts, tonight was our first ever episode of Bachelor Live and we really hope you enjoyed it. We’ll be coming back every week in January to bring you more Bachelor than ever before. We’ll have celebrity guests, deleted scenes, and more behind-the-scenes info than we’ve ever been able to share, and you’ll get to vote in polls and maybe even talk to me or Ben or one of our celebrity guests live on air.

We’re very excited for this season and we can’t wait to hear what you think. Let me know on twitter @chrisbharrison. We’ll see you next week, Bachelor Nation!

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC. Bachelor Live airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on ABC.