'Bachelorette' star DeAnna Pappas narrows the field to 15 bachelors

The 25 men attempting to woo DeAnna Pappas got their first chance during The Bachelorette's fourth-season premiere -- and when it was over, the 26-year-old Neunan, GA real estate agent sent 10 packing in her journey to find true love via the ABC reality dating series.


The 10 bachelors DeAnna ousted at the onset of The Bachelorette's fourth season were Brian W., a 29-year-old computer network consultant from New Castle, IN; Chandler, a 25-year-old insurance representative from Spotsylvania, VA; Donato, a 26-year-old sales representative from Charleston, SC; Greg, a 28-year-old personal trainer from New York, NY; Jeffrey, a 27-year-old math teacher from Orlando, FL; Jon, a 35-year-old resort manager from Surfside Beach, SC; Luke, a 27-year-old oyster farmer from Folly Beach, SC; Patrick C., a 26-year-old financial analyst from Glenwood, IL; Patrick D., a 27-year-old Internet marketer from Elmhurst, IL; and Spero, a 38-year-old actor from Santa Monica, CA.

"The chemistry obviously wasn't there for her," opined Luke after he failed to receive a rose.  "She's an awesome girl and a beautiful girl.  She deserves true love after what happened on the last show.  All those guys are in there are great guys.  I'm just a country boy.  I'm not used to all this.  So I'll go home."

The Bachelorette's fourth-season premiere began with a recap of DeAnna's journey as a The Bachelor eleventh-season suitor, which ended with her being twice rejected by Brad Womack -- first at the final Rose Ceremony and for a second time during ABC's The Bachelor: After the Final Rose special. 

"I know that at the end of this show that it will be a fairytale ending," said DeAnna during the video montage.


The Bachelor host Chris Harrison then welcomed DeAnna and explained "thousands of letters and emails" poured in from guys wanting to date her after The Bachelor's eleventh season.  Following a brief chat with Chris, DeAnna once again expressed faith that her stint as The Bachelorette would end differently than The Bachelor.

"I totally believe in the show.  I totally believe this can happen," she gushed.  "I expect to find my husband at the end of this."

After DeAnna said "first impressions are everything," the 25 suitors began to arrive at her Malibu "bachelorette pad" for a cocktail party.

Highlights included Richard, a 27-year-old science teacher from Binghamton, NY, expressing gratitude he didn't trip exiting the limo; Jason, a 31-year-old account executive from Kirkland, WA, greeting her in Greek; DeAnna being twirled by Paul, a 23-year-old sales manager from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Brian (IN); DeAnna twirling Donato and Robert, a 28-year-old chef from San Francisco, CA; Ron, a 36-year-old barber shop owner from Kansas City, MO, leaving his sport coat in the limo; Fred, a 30-year-old lawyer from Chicago, IL, greeting her with a "big Chicago hug;" and Jeremy, a 30-year-old real estate attorney from Dallas, TX, making sure DeAnna knew he wasn't from Austin.

Before DeAnna entered the cocktail party and tried to spend a little one-on-one time with each bachelor, Chris explained that prior to The Bachelorette's first fourth-season Rose Ceremony, she would have three first-impression rose boutonnieres to present, which would make the recipients safe from elimination that night.  DeAnna then entered the party.


"I am the first The Bachelorette ever to be able to give out three first-impression roses," said DeAnna.  "One guy caught my eye immediately, and I want him to enjoy the rest of the night without any pressure."

DeAnna then presented her first boutonniere to Jeremy.

"I'm really excited by the fact that I got the first-impression rose," said Jeremy. 

The party then commenced and Jason was the first guy to steal DeAnna for some one-on-one time, although he decided against revealing to her that he's a single dad since it was still too soon.  Ryan, a 28-year-old professional football player from Lakeville, MN, sat outside with DeAnna and hogged the blanket, and then got shown-up by Spero, who gave her his jacket.

Unlike Jason, Ron decided to immediately divulge a part of his personal life to DeAnna and explained that he had been married but has since divorced.  Chris, a 29-year-old medical sales rep from Dallas, TX, was similarly forthcoming and admitted that he had cheated on a girlfriend in the past, but assured DeAnna he learned from the mistake.


As Robert cooked a crab cocktail for DeAnna, Luke attempted to compensate for his lack of social skills by presenting DeAnna with a pearl necklace.

Chris Harrison then introduced fellow The Bachelor eleventh-season suitor Jenni Croft -- who was also rejected by Brad during the final Rose Ceremony and has since gotten engaged to her former live-in boyfriend. After DeAnna congratulated her on her engagement, Jenni began to individually grill each of the bachelors to try and learn as much about them as possible before reporting back to DeAnna.

Questions Jenni asked included if the suitors had ever been married or engaged; if they have children; if they want children; what's their worst quality; and what they plan on doing for DeAnna, among others.

As Jenni asked questions and kept notes in a little black notebook, DeAnna continued to meet with the guys.  Richard gave DeAnna a gift -- a quartz crystal -- and despite his nervousness at coming off too geeky, she said she "really, really liked" him and he "impressed" her even though he's a "little dorky."  Eric, a 31-year-old senior analyst from Boston, MA, also gushed about his Greek heritage.

Jesse, a 25-year-old professional snowboarder from Breckenridge, CO, met with Jenni and explained he was dressed in a loud jacket and jeans instead of the traditional suit most of the other guys were wearing to show DeAnna he's different and he wanted her to take the time to get to know him.  Jenni liked the answer, and he basically went inside and told DeAnna the same thing.


She appreciated the conversation with Jesse before being interrupted by Sean, a 33-year-old martial arts master from Crestwood, KY.  Sean asked to use Jesse as a prop and placed a lemon on top of his head before kicking it off.

Jenni and DeAnna then convened, and Jenni gave The Bachelorette star her top three choices.  She described Graham, a 29-year-old professional basketball player from Raleigh, NC, as "very nice and very well-spoken;" Jesse as "awesome" and having a "good sense of humor;" and Jason as "pretty cool."

"I'm so happy for DeAnna that she has this amazing opportunity," said Jenni after her job was done.  "There's definitely some guys that stand out here and she's definitely going to have a hard time choosing."

DeAnna then presented her second first-impressed rose to Jesse.

"I gave my second rose to Jesse because when he stepped out of the limo I had one impression - he didn't get very dressed up to meet me tonight. His jacket's kind of loud," said DeAnna.  "After getting to talk to Jesse, he has a great personality and I really, really liked that about him."


With only one boutonniere left to present, the guys started to pull out all the stops in their attempts to woo DeAnna.  Greg cursed at her when insisting he had no tattoos; Chandler used a duck call to get her attention; and Brian (IN) forced her to touch his "abs of steel."

However nobody outdid Paul, who -- despite the cold Los Angeles night -- decided to jump in the mansion's swimming pool before tearing off his suit and revealing that he was wearing a thong with "DeAnna" written across the butt.

"Good Lord!  My name is on the back of this boy's booty!" exclaimed DeAnna.

As the night came to a close, DeAnna decided to present her final first-impression rose to Richard.

"Although he's one of the shyer guys here, I just felt like he was very sweet and genuine," said DeAnna.  "I felt like he had a lot of the qualities I look for in a man."

After deliberating her decision, DeAnna and the bachelors then gathered for The Bachelorette's first fourth-season Rose Ceremony.


"I just really, really want to say thank you," said DeAnna to her suitors.  "I know what this night can be like and my whole heart is in this.  It's going to be very hard for me to make this decision and I really appreciate you all coming."

In addition to Jeremy, Jesse and Richard, the 12 bachelors who received roses and remained in the running for DeAnna's heart were Ron; Graham; Eric; Robert; Sean; Ryan; Chris; Paul; Fred; Twilley, a 33-year-old software programmer from Tulsa, OK; Jason; and Brian W., a 31-year-old high school football coach from Weatherford, TX.

"It's actually really disappointing because I don't think she saw me for who I really am," said Chandler.  "I mean, I'm sitting there with some other character and he's lifting up his shirt and flexing his abs!  If I wanted to, I could have done the same thing!  I'm here for one reason and one reason only -- I flew across the country to meet this girl.  I was given the opportunity of a lifetime and I did nothing with it.  It's just really disappointing."

"I want to be with DeAnna -- she's great and I hold her in the highest regard -- but I'm not willing to compromise myself," said Greg, who subsequently ripped of his shirt to reveal -- surprise! -- tattoos. 

"Maybe she didn't find me as attractive as the next guy?  Maybe she didn't find me as adamant as the next guy?  Maybe she found me too rebellious?  I'm a f**king rebellious bastard.  I'm a prince amongst men, but I will rise from the ashes again.  I will dust myself off."

The Bachelorette's next fourth-season episode will air Monday, May 26 at 9PM ET/PT on ABC before moving to its regular Mondays at 8PM ET/PT time period beginning June 2.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio