VIDEO: Ben Flajnik Debuts As 'The Bachelor'

It's time for a brand new season of sexual tensions, awkward pauses, and ever-popular catfights on The Bachelor, Season 16, which premiered on ABC on Monday night.

This time the man for whom 25 hopeful women will pine and compete is last season's Bachelorette castoff, Ben Flajnik, who proposed to Ashley Hebert on the finale, only to be rejected for her ultimate choice, J.P. Rosenbaum.

"It's been a really long time since I had those love feelings," Flajnik said on the premiere, undoubtedly referring to the old torch he carried for Hebert. "I've really opened up," the 29-year-old Californian winemaker said.

From horses to grandmas, the night was full of the requisite uncomfortable moments, as each woman entered to introduce herself to Flajnik and make a good first impression. While one female competitor recited a poem, another opted to kill the suspense and give the new boy-next-door bachelor his first kiss of the season. Equestrian Lindzi made an impression by showing up riding a horse, and medical rep Brittney brought her 72-year-old grandmother, Sheryl — also a big fan of Flajnik — to meet the man she would spend the next season trying to land.

Though Flajnik weeded out seven women on just the first night, there's still a good deal of competition going on between the remaining 18. Watch out for fur to fly between Monica and Jenna, the latter of whom was so overcome upon meeting Flajnik that she found herself tongue-tied in his presence.

You can catch The Bachelor on ABC Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Watch ABC's interview with Flajnik here:

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