A sex toy was the main star of Matt James’ ‘The Bachelor’ premiere

It’s Bachelor season again! The first gift of 2021 is the joy of limo introductions on The Bachelor with Matt James, the new “it” fella, and just like in seasons past, the 32 women vying for his heart pulled out all the stops to stick out in his mind and get a rose at the end of the night. There were Bentleys, spaghetti pasta, lingerie, meatballs, tiaras, ballet pirouettes, goat hooves, pick-up trucks, and some, uh, other choices that definitely sent Bachelor Nation into a tizzy.

The Award for the Most Shocking and Eyebrow-Raising Intro of the Night definitely goes to hopeful-romantic Katie, a bank marketing manager from Washington State, who showed up with a gift for Matt hidden behind her back. “I brought something from home that's really special to me,” she said with a smile, “and I thought I’d share it with you. This pandemic was really hard for me and this just really got me through a lot and I was hoping to pass the torch to you.”

The torch in question? Oh look, it’s a vibrating dildo. Ah oui, c’est romantique. Vive le romance!

Katie waved that sex toy in Matt’s face (which was hilariously censored by ABC with a black box), and to her credit he was laughing and actually took it from her. Yup, he touched it. But then she took it back, saying that she might need it since Fantasy Suite dates are so far away. Damn gurl. You freaky. We kinda dig that.

The vibrating dildo made several other appearances during the night. It interrupted Matt’s train of thought as he tried to lead the ladies in a prayer, and later on, it was used to tap another woman on the shoulder during an important conversation. We just... we can’t even.

Setting the sex toys aside for one moment (it’s difficult, we know), there were some serious and heart-warming moments of the show. Off the top, before the women even drove up to the mansion in the limo, Matt sat down with beloved long-time host Chris Harrison to share some thoughts and emotions he’s dealing with.

Being Bachelor Nation’s first Black Bachelor, on top of never really being a part of the franchise before (most Bachelors or Bachelorettes were at one time a contestant on a previous season), was weighing heavy on Matt’s mind, and he spoke about the pressure he was feeling to pick a certain type of woman due to his background.

We and Bachelor Nation were really proud of him for speaking so eloquently about the pressures and expectations that are unique to his situation, but we also couldn’t help but notice that height difference between Chris and Matt. Like, someone get Chris a booster seat or something!

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After all the limo introductions were complete and the women began to vie for Matt’s attention, it became clear that only one of them would get a First Impression rose. We all held our breath, worried that “the Queen has arrived” Victoria would get it, but luckily Abigail, who snagged the first real kiss with Matt, was bestowed the coveted rose. 

Abigail stole our hearts with her poise, composure, positive attitude, and courage in sharing her story of being deaf, and having to read lips. She later revealed that her sister is also deaf, meaning she shares the struggle with her closest confidant, and that made Matt and Bachelor Nation swoon.

So we have our first front-runner, our first cringeworthy sex-toy-related meme that will live on forever in the annals of history, and even perhaps our first villain (we’re looking at you Victoria). If the preview for this season is anything to go by, there’s going to be a lot of broken hearts and misery on the way to happily ever after. 

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