Bachelor in Paradise season 9 premiere recap: Love interests, PDAs, and all that happened on Day 1

ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise season 9 kicked off on September 28 with its premiere episode. The show opened with a tribute to the late Irene Cara and made introductions to this season’s cast. A range of familiar faces from previous seasons of The Bachelor have made a return after failing to find love during their initial appearances.

This included Rachelle Recchia, who initially hoped that her third appearance would make way for love. A range of other cast members who have previously appeared on some iteration of the show include Aaron Bryant, Willie and Catherine, Saun McLoughlin, and Will Urena, among others. Here, we look at everything that happened in the first episode, including some initial connections that quickly formed.

Bachelor in Paradise season 9 episode 1: Everything that happened

As this season is set in Mexico, the episode opened with the castmates creating a montage as they prepared for their trip. The first part of the episode seemingly focused on Kylee Russell, who is also making her second appearance on The Bachelor.

Kylee hoped to see Aven Jones on season 9 after the duo had already had interactions on social media. However, Jones was not introduced in episode 1. Instead, other familiar faces, including Brayden Bowers, Eliza Isichei and Samantha “Sam” Jeffries introduced for season 9 as well.

In the opening half of Episode 1, the diverse ensemble mixed together, leaving a number of cast members upset when their anticipated faces did not appear. Regardless, once all the singles had arrived, host Jesse Palmer began with an introduction and a pep talk. He talked about how a range of contestants had already tried and failed to find love on the show, and hoped that things would change in season 9.

The host also revealed how the first week of the show will proceed. Jesse claimed that a total of four women would end up going home during the first week, as it was the men who held the roses. He soon left the contestants to gel further, with a couple of connections seemingly developing in the first episode itself.

Olivia, for example, revealed that she had already kissed Will and seemed intent on continuing their relationship. Will, however, had other other plans and ended up being asked out by Kylee instead. He quickly agreed which left Olivia frustrated. But the actual date didn't exactly go as planned.

It opened with a hilarious moment when Will ended up failing in a small pool that was meant for their date. He ended up drying himself up before continuing, and the couple seemed to quickly move past the initial hiccup. The two seemed to get on together almost instantaneously and appeared to be the first connection that formed in season 9.

Aven Jones's late arrival stunned Kylee Russell

Kylee claimed towards the end that she had feelings for Will, who said that he “hadn't felt this way in a long time.”

The next morning, Will was forced to talk to Olivia, who claimed that she had been disrespected by him. However, Will claimed that it was too early to form actual connections and he did not owe anyone an explanation. Will claimed that he wanted to further his connection with Kylee and effectively broke things up with Olivia.

However, there was more drama to boot. Kylee had initially claimed she wanted to see Aven Jones on Bachelor in Paradise season 9. Her wish was fulfilled as he arrived late with a date card and right away approached Kylee. The drama means that Kylee will be forced into making a big decision as early as episode 2 of Bachelor in Paradise.

While episode 1 ended with most contestants still getting to know each other, it set up further episodes, and a range of important decisions can be expected to be made by contestants in the coming time. New episodes of Bachelor in Paradise Season 9 can be watched on ABC every Thursday, at 9 PM ET.