Meet, pray, love: Raleigh ‘Bachelor’ Matt James has a unique start to his season
Matt James, ABC’s newest “Bachelor,” played football and basketball at Sanderson High School (go Spartans!).
He was a wide receiver on the Wake Forest University football team (yay Demon Deacons!).
He dipped his toes in the NFL, trying out with the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.
He works with children affected by homelessness, and has a career at a real estate investment firm in New York City.
None of that is adequate training for what the 28-year-old Raleigh native faced Monday night.
Thirty-two women, ranging in personality from Golden Retriever bubbly to seriously sedate, rolled out of limo after limo to stake a claim to all six-feet-five-inches of him.
Here are the high points of Monday night’s “Bachelor” premiere.
Matt James: ‘I’m done running’
Matt (we usually keep it casual in our recaps) gives us a little bio off the top: he grew up in Raleigh with his mom and older brother. His parents — his dad is Black and his mom is white — split up when he was small, so he was raised by his single mother.
During a photo montage, we get a glimpse of him in his Sanderson High basketball uniform. Then we meet his mom, visiting him in his “Bachelor” bachelor pad, and she tells him she thinks he’s “ready” for love and she wants the best for him.
We get brief bios of a few of the women — there’s a ballerina, a runway model, a pharmacist from Ethiopia, a deaf woman with cochlear implants.
But before Matt, looking sharp in a tuxedo, can meet the women, he pulls host Chris Harrison aside for a talk.
Matt tells Chris that he has put a lot of pressure on himself being the first Black “Bachelor.” He explains that being the product of an interracial marriage, he knows that people have a lot of “old school opinions” about what a relationship should look like.
“I don’t want to piss off Black people, I don’t want to piss off white people — I’m both of those,” he told Chris. “How do I please everybody?”
Chris acknowledged that’s “a lot to carry” but told him he may come out of this with peace, joy and love. Then Matt admits he has never been in love — watching his parents has made him put up emotional walls — but he thinks he’s ready for love.
“I’m done running,” he said.
Matt James meets 32 women
Matt seemed overwhelmed by all of the women and stayed cool when things got a little crazy, but had a nice connection with Khaylah Epps, the Durham contestant.
Khaylah, a health care advocate with Blue Cross NC, pulled up not in a limo, but driving an old pickup truck.
“I wanted to be that reminder for him of home,” she said.
Khaylah wasn’t the only woman who tried to be creative with her introduction.
Kaili, a hostess from Chicago, showed up in her underwear and asked Matt to help her pick out her gown. Alana, a photographer from Ontario, brought a bowl of pasta and had Matt reenact the spaghetti scene from “Lady and the Tramp.” Katie, a bank manager from Washington, brought along the sex toy that she said has gotten her through the pandemic (Matt called it “a freaking light saber”). Victoria, whose job was listed as “Queen,” arrived in a crown, calling herself Queen Victoria.
Thank you so much Khaylah, for keeping it classy (and PG).
Matt’s First Impression Rose
In what might be a first, Matt opened the cocktail party with a prayer, then a heartwarming welcome speech that was interrupted when a glimpse of Katie’s toy made him lose his train of thought, he said.
Then began the usual fight for one-on-one time, including lots of awkward interruptions.
Matt’s deep conversation with Mari, a marketing director from Maryland by way of Puerto Rico, was interrupted when Katie tapped in (she literally tapped Mari on the shoulder with her toy, which Mari will be happy to tell you about if you get within five feet of her).
Queen Victoria interrupted women not once but twice.
Khaylah pulled Matt away from the crowd, putting the bed of her pickup truck to use for a nice sweet tea break. Khaylah toasted to “North Carolina roots grounding us, but bringing us together on this very special journey.”
Keep an eye on this one: Matt seemed to really like Rachel, a graphic designer from Georgia. “She’s blowing me away,” he said after talking to her.
But Abigail, the deaf financial advisor from Oregon, was the first to get a serious/make-out style kiss from Matt, and she also received the coveted First Impression Rose.
Matt’s first Rose Ceremony
Matt handed out 25 roses, basically skipping the women he didn’t get to spend much time with. The most notable person going home was Alicia the ballerina.
In addition to Alicia, we lost Carolyn, Amber, Saneh, Cassandra, Corrine, Kimberly and Emani.
Watch ‘The Bachelor’
“The Bachelor” airs Monday nights at 9 on ABC.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 10:08 PM.
