The Bachelor Season 17 Premiere by the Numbers: Ratings, Ashleys and More

Season premiere of the ABC reality hit garnered 6.8 million viewers

By Tierney Bricker Jan 08, 2013 10:25 PMTags
The Bachelor, Sean LoweABC

The Bachelor's ba-aaack!

The ABC hit reality series returned Monday, Jan. 7, this time with former Bachelorette fan favorite (and alleged shirt hater) Sean Lowe as the titular hottie looking for love. 

So how interested were people to meet the 26 ladies looking to become Sean's "one"? Well, 6.8 million viewers tuned into the Season 17 premiere, which attracted a 2.3 rating in the all-important 18-49 demo, down a tenth from last season's premiere, but ranking as the franchise's lowest-rated debut to date. 

Of course, ratings aren't the only numbers that matter. While watching the premiere, we couldn't help but notice some trends, including the number of Ashleys, with various spellings, of course, vying for Sean's affections, so we broke down the episode…

25: Number of women who didn't attempt to do a backflip. B+ for effort, Robyn

10: The number of times Sean said some version of "I can't wait to talk to you a little bit more" during his first meetings with the ladies.

8: The number of times Sean mentioned Emily Maynard.

4: The number of glasses of wine we consumed while watching the premiere.

3: The number of Ashleys (all with different spellings, including, we kid you not, AshLee) who appeared in the premiere.

3: The number of women who forgot to tell Sean their name.

2: The number of times Sean's first rose-getter Tierra has fallen in love…and had her heart broken. Dark times, dark times. 
 
2: The number of women who referred to Sean as "a hunk." 

1: The number of regrettable tattoos shown off in the two-hour episode. (See: Tierra's open heart on her ring finger because she is open to finding love.)

1: The number of beach weddings Sean crashed and awkwardly watched from behind a rock. 

0: The number of times we ever wish to see 50 Shades of Grey enthusiast Ashley P. on our TV screens ever again. (Ironic considering we just started reading Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl? Discuss!)