The Bachelorette Season 16: Best and worst moments of episode 1

THE BACHELORETTE - "1601" - Clare Crawley will finally embark on her journey to find her soul mate as "The Bachelorette" returns for its sizzling 16th season on a new night. After putting Juan Pablo in his place on the memorable, 18th season finale of "The Bachelor," and gaining a new sense of resolve and self-worth, Clare is more than ready to put her romantic disappointments in the rearview mirror and start a wild ride to find her happily ever after on the season premiere of "The Bachelorette," TUESDAY, OCT. 13 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (ABC/Craig Sjodin)FRONT ROW: CHASEN, BRENDAN, JOE, JEREMY, CLARE CRAWLEY, YOSEF, GARIN, TYLER C., BLAKE MOYNES, ZACH J.MIDDLE ROW: JAY, EAZY, ROBBY, DEMAR, RILEY, ED, DALE, IVAN, TYLER S., JORDAN C., PAGEBACK ROW: BENNETT, KENNY, CHRIS, BRANDON, JASON, BEN, MIKE, AJ, ZAC C., BLAKE MONAR, JORDAN M. /

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The Bachelorette Season 16, Episode 1: Worst Moment #1: Overly Enthusiastic Hand Holding

There were many wonderful limo exits last night, from bubble boys to Harvard-worthy arrivals to men in their third trimesters, but one exit stood out as particularly awkward to watch! Software salesman AJ Yalawan arrived on the scene rocking a red suit and full of compliments, but things went downhill from there. Perhaps because he “hadn’t touched a woman in months” or because his friends tell him “he gives terrible first impressions,” things did not go well.

While complimenting Clare’s green eyes, AJ gave her hands an extra *hard* squeeze as she literally cried out in pain. Undaunted, AJ plunged onward in his compliments, informing Clare that only 2% of the population has green eyes (I’ll admit this was an interesting fact). All he seemed to take away from the encounter was that her hands were “so soft” and it felt wonderful to hold them.

AJ sailed into the mansion on a cloud while Clare was left to dig her rings out of her skin. She held up a finger and said, “Looks like a Jack Russell took a bite out of it.” Always the feeling someone wants to have after hand-holding. Moral of the story: rings are not always safe to wear on Night One of The Bachelorette!

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