Heather Martin has explained why she arrived at Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania in a minivan on Monday night's episode of The Bachelor starring Matt James.
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The Bachelor fans have watched women arrive in limos, Bentleys, a red corvette and more, so naturally viewers were surprised to see Heather, 25, show up to The Bachelor resort driving a white minivan.
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"When you pull up to the rental car place and they ask if you want a mini van [sic] the answer is always yes," Heather captioned a Monday Instagram photo of herself standing outside the hotel and next to her minivan in the white dress she wore to meet Matt.
On Tuesday, Heather elaborated on her decision to have a less-than-glamorous entrance on her Instagram Stories.
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"So, I just have to say, I legitimately pulled up to the rental car place and I don't know if they didn't have any other cars but they're just like, 'So, is a minivan OK?'" Heather recalled, according to Us Weekly.
"And of course I didn't think twice and I was like, 'Yeah, I'd love a minivan.' I didn't realize until later that was a weird thing."
Heather reportedly added the caption, "Who knew??" to her Instagram Story-post.
Heather first arrived at The Bachelor resort in a black shirt, jeans and black heels. She explained to The Bachelor host Chris Harrison that The Bachelorette's Season 15 star, Hannah Brown, had put her up to appearing on Matt's season.
Hannah got to know Matt very well in early 2020 when the pair quarantined for weeks along with their mutual friend and The Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron in his hometown in Florida.
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"Hannah just spent some time with Matt in quarantine, and the first thing she said to me when she landed [back home in Alabama] was, 'This guy is the perfect match for you,'" Heather told Chris.
"Hannah is one of my very best girlfriends and she knows Matt and loves Matt. Her telling me that, that meant something."
Heather added, "I couldn't let him get engaged and not meet him or try my best... I know you guys are almost halfway through, but I don't think that's going to stop me."
Once she quarantined for several days and tested negative for coronavirus multiple times, Heather was allowed to face Matt and share how she was feeling.
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But in order to get to Matt, she had to walk by a group of Season 25 bachelorettes, who all flipped out and became furious at the idea of this newcomer potentially receiving one of their roses.
Heather told the cameras that she could really see Matt as her husband and she already felt butterflies for him. Heather said her dream was to fall in love with Matt and get engaged.
"Heather?!" Matt exclaimed when Heather approached him during a conversation with bachelorette Pieper James. "Pieper, I'm so sorry. I just need a couple minutes."
Pieper then returned to the cocktail party and the bachelorettes lamented about another girl possibly being welcomed into the picture when many of them were already falling in love with Matt.
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"If you're going to let a new girl come in or you're going to give a new girl a rose over some of us who have been here this long, then you better marry that girl -- because the rest of us are going to be pissed," Chelsea Vaughn said in a confessional.
"If she gets a rose tonight," Serena Pitt said of Heather, "I am going to be rageful!"
Matt recently told Us that he had met Heather prior to filming The Bachelor.
"[But] I had no relationship with her," Matt clarified on the magazine's "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast earlier this month.
"But she does have a relationship with one of my good friends Hannah Brown. I was just as shocked to see her as everyone else was when she arrives, and I think it makes for a very interesting conversation."
Matt said he could understand why new arrivals would be "frustrating" for the original bachelorettes, who had already invested weeks into the dating process.
"[But] regardless of when you came or didn't come, you're here, and it doesn't matter," Matt said. "To me what matters is our conversations, our connections, and if I could see a future with you."
Matt insisted bullying, rumors and gossip are "not going to be tolerated" on his season, and he already made that apparent by eliminating "mean girls" Victoria Larson and Anna Redman, who were shown attacking the five women who showed up late after the third Rose Ceremony.
The Bachelor star hoped all the women could find a way to peacefully coexist since none of his bachelorettes "wield that authority to send somebody home."
"So, they just got to deal with it," Matt noted of the twists and turns.
"And you don't want to make that environment difficult for other people to live in. Because then I'm going to hear about it. And then I'm gonna have to ask you to go home."
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A The Bachelor preview for the next episode shows Heather being attacked by the other women and breaking down into tears.
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Click here to read spoilers on what happened after Heather's arrival and how long she lasts on Matt's The Bachelor season.
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