Dallas Bachelor Sean Lowe breaks hearts on season premiere

He's too nice to be propositioned on a first date.

ABC

In the season premiere, Bachelor Sean Lowe regularly sports bright-colored v-necks that barely cover his bulging biceps. Later in the season, he wears this.

Hunky Sean Lowe from Dallas is the most beautiful underdog we’ve ever seen. Turned down by Emily on the eighth season of The Bachelorette, he’s back to speed date 26 single women as the main man on The Bachelor, which premiered Monday night on ABC.

Standing like a real-life Ken doll as he awaited his potential brides-to-be, we almost felt sorry for Lowe. He is possibly “most sincere Bachelor we’ve had on this show,” chirped host Chris Harrison. Clad in a black suit, Lowe did look sincere. He also exuded confidence, but not too much; charm, in perfect little doses; and restraint, just enough to make the ladies want more.

Shoot, do we like this guy?

As the women revealed themselves to Lowe, some went for the usual shenigans, like Kelly from Nashville who wrote and sang him a song, or Daniella from Belmont, California, who insisted upon doing a confusing “secret” handshake. We did feel a little sorry for Lowe when Robyn from Houston attempted a back-bend for her grand entrance and didn’t quite stick it, landing in a heap while Lowe politely complimented her.

Craig Sjodin

Contestants on The Bachelor

Oh yes, and he’s funny, too: He scored extra points in the early part of the episode when he joked about potential break-up lines with former fellow Bachelorette contestant Arie Luyendyk Jr. “I can’t use ‘it’s not you, it’s me,’ because it’s obviously going to be them,” Lowe quipped.

In a twist on the regularly scheduled program, Lowe handed a rose to Colorado girl Tierra moments after meeting her. He then gave out roses here and there at whim, causing females not in-the-know to go batty when they’d see beautiful strangers sashay into the room with their ticket to next week’s episode. The maddest girls shoved themselves onto the couch as if they were waiting for a job interview, zooming in for their 30 seconds to talk with Lowe. The ones who wooed him enough (or perhaps showed enough cleavage) got a rose before the next hawk stole him away.

Related:

See pictures of all contestants here

Twenty-six contestants made for far too many to mention here, so we’ve chosen four highlights:

Ashley P., from Macomb, Michigan, has a Fifty Shades of Grey fetish. After one too many cocktails, she “danced” for Lowe to get him away from another contender.

Rick Rowell

Yes, that's Lindsay wearing a wedding dress in the first episode. What, is that desperate or something?

Kacie B. made an unexpected revisit to the series after being on last season’s Bachelor. The other girls instantly hated her.

Sarah, from Evergreen, Colorado, mustered up the courage to talk to Lowe after fretting that she’s not good enough. Born with one arm, she touchingly told the camera that she assumes she doesn’t deserve what everyone else does. Lowe took a liking to her and offered her a rose during their one-on-one.

Craziest contestant Lindsay, from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, spent the whole first episode wearing a fluffy wedding dress as a gag. “Honestly, I wish I were more sober right now,” she said, slurring. Perhaps just for television, Lowe saved her with the last rose.

The contestants who were not offered a rose didn’t get enough screen time to make much of an impact, but being dumped on the first date still brought out the waterworks in several on-camera cameos. “It hurts!” said a sad Ashley H.

Critic’s note: It was possible to watch The Bachelor from start to finish before the BCS National Championship game ended. Nice little Monday night.

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