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13 Times Bachelors Or Bachelorettes Regretted Their First Impression Rose

Jessica L. Yarbrough
Updated September 23, 2021 13 items

Whether you’re a devoted member of #BachelorNation or not, chances are you know exactly what the “first impression rose” is. Here’s a quick refresher: The Bachelor first impression roses are the first roses that the Bachelor or Bachelorette hand out every season. Scoring a first impression rose means that the Bachelor/ette sees more potential with you than any other contestant, and wants to get to know you better. Of course, on reality TV, the honor of being selected for a first rose is bound to have some drama attached to it. 

In fact, the majority of first impression roses end up going to the season’s eventual “villains." For example, Sean gave his first impression rose to Tierra, who drove the other women in the house crazy over the course of the show; Emily gave her first impression rose to Doug, who turned out to have a criminal history of theft and assault. 

The most regret-filled Bachelor and Bachelorette first impression roses fill out the canon of Bachelor lore right alongside juicy behind-the-scenes stories and some of the show's most cliché lines. Between the drama of matchmaking and the magic of finding true love, it's not wonder the show garners such a dedicated fan base.

  • Becca Gave The Rose To Garrett, Who Liked Offensive Content On Instagram

    Becca Gave The Rose To Garrett, Who Liked Offensive Content On Instagram

    On Bachelorette Becca Kufrin's season, she kicked things off by giving the first impression rose to Garrett Yrigoyen — a seemingly sweet guy who "loves fly fishing, hiking and snowshoeing." After the episode aired, however, the news broke that Garrett had liked some seriously offensive content via his Instagram account, including transphobic memes and posts making fun of the Parkland shooting survivors. Yeah, probably not first impression rose material.

    He later apologized, saying, "I have learned an extremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself." As for Becca, she added, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions... It's difficult for people to say certain things about any of these guys, and so I would really just hope that they watch the entire journey and get to know them for who they really are."

  • Arie Gave The Rose To Chelsea, Who Became A Villain For A While

    Arie Gave The Rose To Chelsea, Who Became A Villain For A While

    On the first episode of Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s season of The Bachelor, contestant Chelsea Roy pulled a move that left him wanting more, but left her fellow contestants seething with rage. Arie had more than 25 women vying for his attention that night, and most of them tried to be respectful of each other's time. Most, that is, except Chelsea. The woman touting "Mama don't play" pulled Arie away from conversations with other women not once but twice, cementing her status as the season's cutthroat villain (at least for that episode).

    Instead of considering this attitude aggressive, Arie found Chelsea attractive and rewarded her tenacity with the coveted first impression rose. His attraction was apparently limited to that initial influence, though, as he ended up sending her home soon thereafter.

  • Juan Pablo Gave The Rose To Sharleen, Who Talked About How Dumb He Was Behind His Back

    Juan Pablo Gave The Rose To Sharleen, Who Talked About How Dumb He Was Behind His Back

    Possibly the most controversial Bachelor in the show's history, Juan Pablo Galavis Guinand seemed to get everything wrong from the start. After meeting more than 20 potential wives, the former pro soccer player singled out Sharleen Joynt for the first impression rose. Sharleen, a fan favorite, was an obvious choice: beautiful, educated, well-spoken, and an opera singer. Her one flaw? Hating on Juan Pablo — and his intelligence level — behind his back all the time.

    In interviews, Sharleen made it known that even though she found Juan Pablo attractive, she didn't find him intellectually stimulating in the least ("he misunderstood me so we would just start making out"). Eventually, she left the show — and Juan Pablo — in pursuit of someone smarter.

  • Jillian Gave The Rose To David, Who Got Drunk And Aggressive

    Jillian Gave The Rose To David, Who Got Drunk And Aggressive

    When Jillian Harris gave her first impression rose to David Good, she thought she may have found The One. Over the following weeks, however, David proved to be anything but good for her. The cameras caught his heavy drinking habit, which caused him to lash out and get aggressive towards his fellow contestants, at one point even admitting, "We had been in the house together for almost a month and it came to a head. I said, 'I want to kill Juan,' but that doesn’t mean I want to kill Juan."

    Eventually, there was a point at which David went in for a kiss and Jillian turned her head away, indicating to #BachelorNation at large she'd had enough of David's antics.

  • Ali Gave The Rose To Roberto, Who Eventually Broke Her Heart

    Ali Gave The Rose To Roberto, Who Eventually Broke Her Heart

    Ali Fedotowsky's season of The Bachelorette appeared to be a real-life fairy tale, starting with her first impression rose. She gave it to Roberto Martinez, and the two seemed to be a perfect match from the start. Although her season had its fair share of drama, it was obvious to fans that she and Roberto shared something special, and the two ended up getting engaged on the final episode.

    But 18 months after the cameras stopped rolling, the two called it quits when Roberto's temper proved too hot for Ali to handle. A friend revealed to People magazine, "He’d be really good and sweet in public, but their fights could be explosive."

  • Ashley Gave The Rose To Ryan, Who Wouldn't Take No For An Answer

    Ashley Gave The Rose To Ryan, Who Wouldn't Take No For An Answer

    Bachelorette Ashley Hebert liked Ryan Park as soon as his stepped out of the limo, and she presented him with her first impression rose at the end of the night. But unfortunately for Ryan, that first rose caused him to cling to false hope for a little too long. After Ashley broke it off with Ryan before the hometown dates, he was devastated. He left to go back home, only to show up in Fiji to surprise Ashley when she had whittled the competition down to her final two men. She still wasn't feeling it, and Ryan went home rejected again.

  • Sean Gave The Rose To Tierra, Who Became The Season's Villain

    Sean Gave The Rose To Tierra, Who Became The Season's Villain

    Bachelor Sean Lowe famously gave Tierra LiCausi his first impression rose the moment she stepped out of the limo, immediately sending the rest of the bachelorettes into a tizzy. Tierra ended up being the ultimate two-faced villain: in front of Sean, she was sweet and seductive, but in front of the women, she was mean-spirited and rude. She managed to hide her true colors from Sean for quite a while, but as soon as he saw her crazy come out during a feud with fellow contestant AshLee Frazier, he sent her packing.

  • Emily Gave The Rose To Doug, Who Has An Alleged History Of Assaulting Women

    Emily Gave The Rose To Doug, Who Has An Alleged History Of Assaulting Women

    After breaking things off with Brad Womack (the Bachelor who dumped both of his finalists on the last episode of his first season and broke up with Emily after she won his second season), Emily Maynard was ready for a fresh start with an emotionally available man. The man to whom she gave her first impression rose, Doug Clerget, was not that guy, but he took the rose anyway. After the season aired, it was revealed that Doug had an allegedly extensive criminal past, including petty theft and using a weapon to assault the mother of his child. ABC clearly didn't see him for who he was during the casting season — but luckily, Emily eventually did and kicked him to the curb.

  • Andi Gave The Rose To Nick, Who Revealed Their Sexual History On National TV Without Her Consent

    Andi Gave The Rose To Nick, Who Revealed Their Sexual History On National TV Without Her Consent

    Andi Dorfman's season of The Bachelorette gave #BachelorNation the ultimate love-him-or-hate-him cast member, Nick Viall. Nick, who kew how to turn on the charm, managed to snag Andi's first impression rose. Even though he ended up stirring up drama with the other men in the Bachelor mansion, he made it to the final episode of the season before Andi let him go. His villain status was cemented forever on the After the Final Rose special, when he revealed to the world on live TV that he and Andi slept together in the Fantasy Suite.

  • Ben Gave The Rose To Olivia, Who Was Hated By The Rest Of The Girls

    Ben Gave The Rose To Olivia, Who Was Hated By The Rest Of The Girls

    Olivia Caridi was one of those love-her-or-hate-her girls on The Bachelor. Bachelor Ben Higgins loved her, and the women in the house hated her. She was charismatic enough to score the first impression rose from Ben on the season's first episode, but that put a target on her back for the duration of the show. Her fellow contestants constantly complained about her attention-seeking attitude — and her allegedly bad breath — before Ben finally saw the light and asked her to leave.

  • Kaitlyn Gave The Rose To Shawn, Which Made Him A Likely Target

    Kaitlyn Gave The Rose To Shawn, Which Made Him A Likely Target

    Kaitlyn Bristowe became a paragon of sex positivity on her season of The Bachelorette when she was open about the contestant with whom she was sleeping. That contestant was personal trainer Shawn Booth, and from the early days it was clear the two had chemistry. When Shawn earned Kaitlyn's crucial first rose, he also earned himself early fan speculation over whether he'd be the favorite to win it all. But before the season was over, Kaitlyn accidentally confirmed that fact when she Snapchatted a picture of the two in bed together before the finale, spoiling the ending for fans and the ABC network. 

  • DeAnna Gave Her Rose To Jesse, And They Broke Up In The End

    DeAnna Gave Her Rose To Jesse, And They Broke Up In The End

    DeAnna Pappas started a trend when she gave Jesse Csincsak the first impression rose: she was the first Bachelorette to give her initial rose to her future fiancé. While Jesse ended up winning the show (and DeAnna's heart), the two went through a bitter breakup just four months after the show ended. After the split she reportedly remarked, "Jesse and I are not friends... and we never will be." 

  • Jesse Gave The Rose To Trish, A Self-Proclaimed "Gold Digger"

    Jesse Gave The Rose To Trish, A Self-Proclaimed "Gold Digger"

    The first impression rose made its series debut on Season 5 of The Bachelor with Jesse Palmer, who gave the first-ever first impression rose to Trish Schneider (one of the The Bachelor's first villains). Meanwhile, Jesse had asked his friend Jenny join the cast as a spy — to dig up dirt on his potential wives, naturally. Jenny was not feeling Trish, and told Jesse as much. Trish famously wore a t-shirt that read, "Gold Digger — Like a hooker, just smarter," which understandably rubbed people the wrong way. Then, after being eliminated, she interrupted one of Jesse's dates to hand him the key to her hotel room. Jesse didn't take her up on the offer.