Is the First-Impression Rose a Curse on The Bachelor? We're Investigating

At first glance, The Bachelor's first-impression rose seems like a good indicator of who's going to do well, but there's also the rumored "first-impression-rose curse." Is there really a "curse" on the recipient of the first-impression rose? As far as The Bachelor goes, that very well seems like the case. Starting with season 10, when the concept was officially introduced as a regular thing, only one first-impression rose recipient has gone on to win the season, and that was under some unusual circumstances.

The sole first-impression-rose recipient to win the whole thing was Catherine Giudici, who won Sean Lowe's season. But that was a weird year: instead of giving out one rose during the first night, Sean handed out a dozen sporadically, all before the official rose ceremony — so the odds were higher than usual that a first-impression-rose recipient would win! Eight recipients have also managed to hang around until the final three, too, so getting that first-night rose does often correlate to a longer stay on the show.

It's worth noting that, over on The Bachelorette, things are a little more reliable. For four straight seasons, the first-impression rose went to the eventual winner: Kaitlyn Bristowe gave it to Shawn Booth, JoJo Fletcher chose Jordan Rodgers, Rachel Lindsay picked Bryan Abasolo, and Becca Kufrin chose Garrett Yrigoyen. The most recent season, however, bucked that trend in embarrassing fashion: Hannah Brown's first-impression-rose pick was Luke Parker, who went on to be one of the most infamous "villains" in Bachelorette history, despite sticking around until the final four.

Curious about the fates of all of the first-impression roses on The Bachelor? Keep reading to see how each woman fared!

The Bachelor Season 24: Hannah Ann Sluss
ABC

The Bachelor Season 24: Hannah Ann Sluss

Hannah Ann got the first-impression rose from Peter Weber and is already being considered a front runner for the season.

The Bachelor Season 23: Hannah Godwin

Colton Underwood gave his first-impression rose to Hannah G. Ultimately, she made it all the way to the final three, but Colton chose to eliminate her and Tayshia Adams in order to pursue Cassie Randolph, who had quit on her own because she wasn't feeling as strongly for Colton as she felt she should.

The Bachelor Season 22: Chelsea Roy

Chelsea got Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s first-impression rose in season 22. She made it through to week six before getting eliminated.

The Bachelor Season 21: Rachel Lindsay

Rachel got Nick Viall's first-impression rose and wound up coming in third place on that season. But she got a pretty amazing consolation prize: she was chosen to be the next Bachelorette, where she met her now-husband, Bryan Abasolo. And in an adorable twist, Bryan was actually the recipient of her first-impression rose!

The Bachelor Season 20: Olivia Caridi

Ben Higgins presented Olivia with the first-impression rose, but she only made it to week six.

The Bachelor Season 19: Britt Nilsson

After getting the first-impression rose from Chris Soules, Britt made it to week seven and was then eliminated. She was then chosen for the dual-choice Bachelorette season, but Kaitlyn Bristowe won the vote to be the official Bachelorette that year.

The Bachelor Season 17: Catherine Giudici

Bachelor Sean Lowe broke with tradition by giving out not one first-impression rose but 12 over the course of the night! The list included Catherine Giudici, who won the season, and she and Sean are currently married with three children.

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The Bachelor Season 17: Tierra LiCausi

Tierra received a first-impression rose from Sean Lowe almost right away, and she stuck around until week seven. After being the "villain" on the season, Tierra ducked away from the public eye, keeping her social media on lockdown.

The Bachelor Season 17: Desiree Hartsock

Desiree made it to week eight of Sean Lowe's season, but she stuck with the Bachelor franchise, becoming the Bachelorette. She ultimately married her final choice, Chris Siegfried.

The Bachelor Season 17: AshLee Frazier

AshLee eventually placed third on Sean Lowe's season, then returned for Bachelor in Paradise.

The Bachelor Season 17: Selma Alameri

Selma made it partway through the season before being eliminated in week six, along with fellow first-impression-rose recipient Sarah Herron.

The Bachelor Season 17: Robyn Howard

Robyn was eliminated halfway through the season in week five. But there's a silver lining: she's still friends with some of the women from her season, and she even threw Selma's baby shower!

The Bachelor Season 17: Jackie Parr

Jackie made it to week five before being eliminated, then joined the first season of Bachelor in Paradise.

The Bachelor Season 17: Leslie Hughes

Leslie was able to stick around through week four before being eliminated.

The Bachelor Season 17: Diane Willardson

The first-impression rose didn't save Diane from being eliminated the following week, along with two other first-impression-rose recipients, Brooke and Katie.

The Bachelor Season 17: Sarah Herron

Sarah wound up with a perfectly respectable run on Sean's season, staying on until week six.

The Bachelor Season 17: Brooke Buchette
Getty | Amanda Edwards

The Bachelor Season 17: Brooke Buchette

Brooke was part of the group that Sean gave roses to on his first night, but that first impression didn't last long: she was eliminated the following week. She's completely vanished from public appearances since then and is presumably living her best life far from the spotlight.

The Bachelor Season 16: Lindzi Cox

After getting the first-impression rose from Ben Flajnik, Lindzi was down to the final two contestants, but Ben ultimately chose Courtney Robertson instead.

The Bachelor Season 15: Ashley Spivey

Ashley was one of the shortest-lived first-impression-rose recipients, making it only to week five of Brad Womack's (second) season.

The Bachelor Season 14: Tenley Molzahn

Jake Pavelka gave Tenley the first-impression rose, and she ended up in the final two before losing to Vienna Girardi.

The Bachelor Season 13: Nikki Kaapke
Getty | Denise Truscello

The Bachelor Season 13: Nikki Kaapke

Nikki (pictured left) got the first-impression rose from Jason Mesnick, but she only lasted to week four before being sent home.

The Bachelor Season 12: Amanda Rantuccio

Bachelor Matt Grant gave Amanda the first-impression rose, and she stuck around almost until the end, getting eliminated at the final three.

The Bachelor Season 11: Jenni Croft

Brad Womack gave Jenni the first-impression rose, and she ended up becoming part of one of the biggest Bachelor shocks in history. She made it to the final two, where Brad infamously chose neither of his final two contestants.

The Bachelor Season 10: Stephanie Tipper
Getty | Charley Gallay

The Bachelor Season 10: Stephanie Tipper

The first "official" first-impression rose was given out in Andy Baldwin's season. He awarded it to Stephanie Tipper, who made it to week four before being sent home. Like many of the other less-memorable contestants, she has stayed out of the spotlight and hasn't done much publicly since a brief modeling career in 2009.