Yuki Kimura: Meet The Bachelor Winter Games' Breakout Star

Yuki Kimura, from season one of The Bachelor Japan, quickly became the breakout star of The Bachelor Winter Games during its premiere on Tuesday night

By Tierney Bricker Feb 15, 2018 1:00 PMTags

Bachelor Nation, meet your new obsession: Yuki Kimura.

"There is one star that will take over America and become maybe the biggest star in the world and her name is Yuki," host and co-executive producer Chris Harrison predicted ahead of The Bachelor Winter Games Feb. 13 premiere.

And after the reality spinoff's debut on Tuesday night, it's safe to say he was right, as The Bachelor Japan season one star quickly became a fan-favorite. Come on, how can you resist, "Dean, please me rose, OK?"

"She's just so compelling, she's so sweet, she's so funny," Harrison gushed. "And she was our biggest challenge because she spoke so little English that we actually had a translator there on set with her because after I explained things, someone had to explain things to her so she understood."

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Beloved former Bachelor and Winter Games star Ben Higgins also knew Yuki, 21, would be loved by viewers, saying, "If she isn't a star we have issues with all of us. She will take over everybody's hearts."

While producers initially were looking for international contestants who had "some kind of working knowledge of English so they could communicate," executive producer Bennett Graebner said Yuki was the exception.

ABC

"She spoke very little language but she came recommended to us from someone who had worked on the show years ago and said, 'You really need to meet her. She doesn't speak English but she's fantastic.' We brought her to Los Angeles and we put her in front of the camera and did an interview with her and had a translator there and she just lit up the screen," he said. "Even though we couldn't understand what she was saying, we could just tell that she was a superstar and that we needed to make an exception for her."

And though there's a significant language barrier, Graebner revealed viewers can look forward to "a very touching and sweet" moment between Yuki and Harrison this season, noting everyone who worked on the show, both in front of and behind the camera "responded to" and "loved" her. 

"She is just a sweetheart of a young woman and a very open and emotional one," Graebner said. "It was one of the more touching of the entire show was when she sat down with Chris Harrison and Chris talked to the both in English and in Japanese and it's both funny and very touching and sweet. That's something to look for."

The Bachelor Winter Games' next episode airs Thursday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. on ABC.