‘Bachelor’ premiere: Did Duke grad or Wilmington ‘charmer’ get a rose on Night 1?
Get ready for the roses because “The Bachelor” is back — featuring two contestants with ties to the Tar Heel state.
The newest season of ABC’s hit reality show has returned with 25 women from around the world, including Kyleigh Henrich from Wilmington and Duke University graduate Zoe McGrady.
Since we have two new North Carolina Bachelor Nation stars, we’ll be tuning in every week to see if they’ll walk away with a happy ending with Bachelor Grant Ellis.
Spoiler alert: If you didn’t catch the premiere, don’t worry. Here’s a recap of what you missed.
Kyleigh’s spicy entrance
Kyleigh Henrich, 26, works on the Carolina coast as a retail manager. Off the clock, she loves to spend time surfing, playing pickleball and beach camping.
According to her contestant bio, she “is a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic who is ready for the real deal, so she’s putting all her faith in this journey with no regrets.”
On night one, the “Southern charmer with a huge heart and a sweet personality” made her mark at the mansion with a nod to Grant’s love for salsa: a platter of chips and salsa.
Zoe shoots her shot
Though Zoe McGrady is now a New Yorker who works as a model and tech engineer, she actually graduated from Duke University.
The way Zoe put it, “every power couple needs some merch,” so she showed up to the mansion with special T-shirts with their faces on them. To top it off: They tossed them around during the cocktail party with a T-shirt launcher.
“Hopefully I made an impression on him, but I also wanted to show the girls that I’m here with a purpose and I thought T-shirts were the best way to get that across,” she told producers.
“I came out of the limo guns blazing. I wanted to leave my mark in the house. ... I think we’re probably the best-looking couple here, so let the games begin.”
Did Kyleigh and Zoe get a rose from Grant?
Though they didn’t get the first impression rose — which went to “no drama llama” Alexe — Zoe did get a rose. Unfortunately, Kyleigh did not.
“Definitely not the ending that I anticipated, but I know little girl Kyleigh would look at me now and just be so proud,” Kyleigh said after the rose ceremony.
“Sad for myself but also so happy for these women because they’re truly really special so Grant’s gonna be a very lucky guy.”
Who got eliminated during the rose ceremony?
Of the 25 women who started out with high hopes of hitting it off with Grant, here’s who was eliminated and sent home on the first night at the mansion:
J’Nae
Radhika
Christina
Kyleigh
Kelsey
Neicey
Savannah
How to watch ‘The Bachelor’
You can tune in and watch “The Bachelor” every Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC and the next day on Hulu.
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 10:04 PM with the headline "‘Bachelor’ premiere: Did Duke grad or Wilmington ‘charmer’ get a rose on Night 1?."
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