The Bachelor

He bared his soul on The Bachelorette. Now Ben Flajnik is baring even more.

We're talking about bare buns, people.

"It's a very nude season," host-pimp Chris Harrison says of Flajnik's turn as The Bachelor, which kicked off with another mesmerizing season premiere Monday.

"Ben is comfortable in his own skin. He doesn't have modesty issues."

But it wasn't all easy for the 29-year-old, San Francisco-based winemaker, who admits he was caught off guard by the fierce level of competition among the 25 women.

He's a go-with-the-flow kind of guy when it comes to disrobing on camera, but the emotional nakedness of the reality show left him seeking cover. So to speak.

This winter will feature a mystery woman from Ben's past (our Bachelor spoilers page has the details), a hyped-up skinny-dipping session and MAJOR cat fighting.

"Obviously with a situation like this, the claws are going to come out," Flajnik tells People Magazine. "And they came out a lot earlier than I would've expected."

We've come to expect such things, but never quite like this. If you missed the (sexy, dramatic, suspense-filled!) trailer for the new season, watch it after the jump:

The epic, four-minute trailer for the all-new season of The Bachelor that aired at the end of last night's season premiere has to be seen to be believed.

It has the feel of a big-budget film, not a reality show. Clearly, ABC ditched any pretense of love and ramped up the nudity, side plots and suspense.

More power to them. Sure, Ben is a real nice guy who probably does want to marry his final rose recipient, but it's ALL about the drama this year:

Straddling Ben, stripping buck naked in the ocean and openly taunting the competition, it seems safe to say Courtney's the "bad girl" this winter.

But who is the girl in red? Ben's ex? Another familiar face? See our page dedicated to The Bachelor spoilers to find out (what we think is) the answer.

And who is the woman in black? Is it the Black Widow herself?!

Cloaked in mystery (and ridiculousness), she boards a chopper on what we presume is the finale, only to do "a 180" about saying yes to Ben Flajnik?!

Share all your theories with us in the comments, and stay tuned all winter log as THG live blogs the scripted, contrived awesomeness of each episode.

Ah, the first Monday of the year. It's that time again. The Bachelor is back, baby!

Our relationship with the ABC franchise remains complicated as ever. Neither love-hate, nor unconditional affection, nor unabashed disgust, it's hard to define.

What we do know is that Ben Flajnik captured our hearts last season when he was rejected by Ashley Hebert. That was rough, but he has NO REGRETS!

Follow this link for The Bachelor spoilers we know so far, including the rumored winner. Then join us for THG's +/- Bachelor season premiere recap!

WILL YOU ACCEPT THIS AIRBRUSHING: Ben F. is retouched and ready to go!

At the end of the day, and two-hour episode, despite the contrived nonsense that is The Bachelor, Ben somehow comes off as a genuine, All-American guy.

Will the California winemaker fall madly in love? Will it last? Will discarded women cry along the way? Will some people be there for the wrong reasons? 

Possibly, probably not, definitely and most likely.

For all the scripted BS, cue cards, misleading promos and manufactured drama, we were excited to see the season premiere, and it didn't let us down ...

ABC has revealed some new photos of The Bachelor's Ben Flajnik, and something's definitely missing. Two things, actually. His signature moles? No more!

The California winemaker, who captured America's heart over the summer after being cast off by The Bachelorette's Ashley Hebert, still has his killer smile.

Just not some other facial features that aren't even that noticeable, but editors still decided to go to town on. Something about The Bachelor is fake? No WAY.

In photos from last season, beauty marks on his left cheek were very visible ... presumably they will be in actual footage this season as well. So what's the point?

We have no idea, but the new season totally starts January 2!

Who will he give the first - and final - roses to? What surprises, scandals and exciting dates await? Read The Bachelor spoilers we've posted so far - if you DARE!!

Or just click to enlarge more promotional pics of Ben Flajnik:

Give Lindzi Cox, or more likely The Bachelor story editors, credit for originality.

When the ABC sort-of-reality show returns Monday, January 2, the Ocala, Fla., native will make an entrance UNLIKE ANY IN BACHELOR HISTORY (spoken with uber-dramatic Chris Harrison voice inflection). Spoiler alert - she's on a horse!

We can't say how far she makes it this season (actually we can, if The Bachelor spoilers we read are to be trusted), but after this stunt, Lindzi clearly has the inside track to the first impression rose ... and the other girls' black list. Brats.

Watch her attempt to impress Ben Flajnik right out of the gate:

Confirming a rumor we reported this summer, Bachelor star Ben Flajnik admits he did in fact go on a date with Jennifer Love Hewitt, and that she initiated it.

In the end, though, Ben felt SHE was not HIS type!

The reality star, who was left heartbroken by Ashley Hebert on The Bachelorette finale this summer, and who will be calling the shots starting January 2 (see The Bachelor spoilers for the scoop on the season), described the date as such:

Although the actress was "a nice girl," she didn't meet his needs.

"It was right in the middle of the time when I was deciding to be The Bachelor," Ben Flajnik said of the date, which consisted of dinner at his family's winery.

"When this is all said and done, I'm a regular guy, and ending up with a Hollywood celebrity is not something that I want or envision myself doing."

It's that time of year again. Ben Flajnik is gearing up to dole out the roses beginning January 2, and like clockwork, The Bachelor spoilers are already swirling.

Get ready for another wild season of skinny dipping, cat fighting, cursing (more than usual in that area) and people coming on the show for the wrong reasons.

Pour the wine (a California varietal, if you please) and grab the tissues, because this is going to be the most intense, talked-about season of The Bachelor EVER!

No fewer than 25 women are waiting to throw themselves at Ben, but who will advance to the coveted hometown dates, and who is he engaged to at the end?

Thanks to Reality Steve, Bachelor soothsayer extraordinaire, a man who comes through even in the face of potential litigation, we can likely these questions.

Ready to learn the identities (with photos!) of the alleged final four women this season, as well as the winner of Ben Flajnik's heart and a Neil Lane ring?

Follow the jump for The Bachelor spoilers galore ...

After the season premiere, the girls head to Sonoma.

In Episode Two, Ben goes on one-on-one dates with Kacie Boguskie and Courtney Robertson, while 12 of the women audition for a play put on by children.

Eliminations: Jenna Burke and Shawn Reynolds.

In Episode Three, the drama really starts. Ben meets up with his sister Julia at the Grove. It's not an ex-girlfriend or someone shocking. That comes later.

Ben goes on one-on-one dates with Emily O’Brien and Lindzi Cox. Brittney, the woman whose grandmother introduced her, voluntarily leaves the show.

Then a couple of really unexpected twists happen:

• Samantha Leavy falls for producer Bennett Graebner. Nothing physical happened, and it may not even be aired, but she later leaves, and this is why.
• Shawntel Newton, from Brad Womack's season, comes back to “enter” the game (see below). How she pulled this off, we can't say. But no rose!
• Erika Uhlig faints during the rose ceremony.

Eliminations: Erika Uhlig and Jaclyn Swartz. Brittney already eliminated herself during the after-party of the group date and Shawntel Newton is gone too.

In Episodes Four, Five and Six, Ben and the girls visit Utah, Puerto Rico, and Panama. The details are sketchy, but Ben cuts the field down from 13 to 6.

Eliminations: Monica Spannbauer, Samantha Leavy, Jamie Otis, Blakeley Shea, Casey Shteamer, Elyse Myers and Jennifer ... in some order or another.

In Panama, there is a big scandal involving Casey Shteamer dating some guy named Michael Patak back home before she left for filming the show.

It's unclear how this will be presented on the show, but her exit has to do with having a boyfriend back home, and Chris Harrison even intervenes.

In Episode Seven, Lindzi Cox and Emily O’Brien go on one-on-ones, as does Courtney Robertson. On the group date, the girls go swimming with sharks.

Eliminations: Emily O’Brien and Rachel Truehart.

Which brings us to Episode Eight, and the Final Four:

Nicki Sterling: A divorced dental hygienist "who likes to drink Coors Light and get her party on," she brings Ben back to her hometown of Hurst, Texas.

Lindzi Cox: A native of Ocala, Fla., she makes quite a first impression on Ben. Like Puss in Boots and the Old Spice Guy, she's on a horse! First impression rose? Hers.

Courtney Robertson: The Scottsdale, Ariz., product is an international model with pictures all over the Internet, and even has a national ad for Caesar's Palace on TV.

In addition, Court is reportedly disliked by the others in the house from the get-go, swears like a sailor and went skinny dipping with Ben in Puerto Rico. Hot stuff!

Kacie Boguskie: Got to show off her baton twirling skills when she had the first date of the season in Sonoma, then took Ben home to beautiful Clarksville, Tenn.

Sadly for Kacie, she gets bounced after the hometown dates. Rough.

The final three - Nicky, Lindzi, and Courtney - jet off to Switzerland for overnight dates, in Episode Nine. Nicky is eliminated, leaving Lindzi and Courtney ...

The final rose ceremony took place Wednesday, November 16 at a Swiss mountain location so remote, both girls arrived at the rose ceremony via helicopter.

So with Lindzi Cox and Courtney Robertson to choose from, Ben Flajnik had his pick of polar opposites ... and naturally chose the often-controversial model.

Yes, Ben Flajnik is engaged to Courtney Robertson. As of right now.

Will it last? That remains to be seen, although we don't have to tell you about this franchise's abysmal track record. Congratulations in any case, you kids!

That's it for now! We'll update this page as more info becomes available throughout the season, and/or if anything changes. Check back early and often.

What do you think of The Bachelor spoilers above? Discuss!

UPDATE, 1/10: Looking pretty accurate so far. Ben has in fact dispatched with the nine women rumored to get the pink slip over the first two weeks.

The real test will come with a dramatic Episode Three, at which point the mysterious lady in red arrives and the drama is off the CHAIN. Stay tuned.

UPDATE, 1/18: Wow. The third-episode fireworks certainly went according to what we read in advance, but the Bachelor spoilers couldn't do it justice.

We'd love to know how much of a role Courtney Robertson had in getting Shawntel kicked off, for one. Was she serious about threatening to leave?

Moreover, did Ben really boot Shawntel because it was "fair" or did he do it to please one of his early favorites? In any case, we are down to 13 girls.

Also, the producer scandal apparently isn't making it to the air, or at least it hasn't yet. Samantha is still around ... don't expect her to be for long.

And seriously, how catty are these freaking women?!

UPDATE, 1/24: We weren't quite sure of the order, but we knew Monica Spannbauer and Samantha Leavy would be sent home in the next set of episodes.

Turns out last night was that episode. Interesting that Samantha's exit was so unusually abrupt, yet her alleged feelings for the producer were omitted.

Courtney, meanwhile, continued to play the villain, delighting at others' misfortune and cementing her place as one of the least popular contestants ever.

UPDATE, 1/31: Wow. Courtney is exceeding villainous expectations at this point, skinny dipping her way into week six with reckless, naked abandon.

Elyse and Jennifer got the boot, the former during a one-on-one date that preceded Court's nude romp in the ocean, and Jen at the rose ceremony.

Jennifer's elimination was somewhat surprising as they seemed to have a great date the previous week, but so it goes. Elyse never really clicked with Ben.

Two more episodes until we reach the final four and the hometown dates, with the alleged four finalists still intact. As always, you'll hear more when we do.

UPDATE, 2/7: Jaime, Casey and Blakeley got the heave-ho, all in different scenarios. Jaime was left rose-less at the ceremony at the end of the night.

Blakeley exited after coming up on the short end of the 2-on-1 date, during which Rachel survived. Picking the reserved one? Surprising move by Ben.

Casey Shteamer was confronted by Chris Harrison about her boyfriend back home, and while she sort of denied they're together, Ben sent her packing.

Courtney Robertson? Still lowering the bar every week.

Jesse Csincsak, former winner of The Bachelorette, is speaking out about the new lawsuit against Reality Steve, whose Bachelor spoilers have roiled producers for years.

Csincsak says the real culprit in all of this is the show's head honcho, Mike Fleiss, who he claims ruins people's lives for a living, yet can't take what he dishes out.

The ex-fiance of DeAnna Pappas doesn't understand capital letters, or know how to spell the names of certain toppled global despots, but he has strong feelings on the topic.

Excerpts from his unintentionally hilarious blog post appear below:

"Mike Fleiss Production Company Next Entertainment came to me just over a year ago and offered me 30k to find out who Reality Steves Leak was ?"

"The problem is that they have hundreds of people who see the tapes in editing so nailing it down would be a tuff one so of course I was unable to cash in."

"Mike Fleiss is the steel fist of hollywood he makes everyone sign a 20 page contract signing away there lives and is the only Production company that doesnt pay his talent."

"He wants to be feared because he thinks that will solve his problems but what he doesnt understand is PIGS GET SLAUGHTERED look at every tuff guy in the history of the world ... what happened to them ?????? Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Sadam husane once you piss off enough people someone will eventually take you out of the game !!"

"Fleiss you cant contunue to USE PEOPLE & push people around YOUR day is coming its only a matter of time !!"

In an interesting piece of TV news, The Bachelor is suing Stephen Carbone, a.k.a. Reality Steve, claiming $75,000 in damages, according to reports.

NZK Productions and Alternative Television, Inc. take issue with his tactics of “soliciting information from participants, cast, crew and/or other employees” by “inducing them to breach their confidentiality obligations.”

Steve has been posting lots of The Bachelor, Bachelorette and Bachelor Pad spoilers for years, and surprisingly detailed, mostly accurate ones at that.

The wild ending of Jason Mesnick's season of The Bachelor, when he dumped winner Melissa Rycroft for Molly Malaney after the show aired, was Steve's first big scoop.

It's unclear who the mole is - Steve is just some dude from Texas who posts this stuff in long-winded rants on his personal site - but producers claim he's liable for damages because those who participate sign confidentiality agreements.

Several of his tactics are highlighted, like this one email:

“Let me just say, I’m very well aware of your contract,” Carbone allegedly wrote an unnamed source. “I also know that over 500 contestants have been on this show and not one of them has ever been sued for the $5 million."

"It’s just a scare tactic. Trust me. Just like they had no idea you sent me that last email, they’ll have no idea about any correspondence either."

Ben Flajnik makes his debut as The Bachelor January 2, and if this three-minute preview is any indication, we may be in for the wildest season in Bachelor history.

Okay, yes, Chris Harrison says that every season. But we're serious here!

Ben, who was famously rejected by Bachelorette star Ashley Hebert, certainly looks like he has his hands full with these 25 fame-seeking aspiring trophy wives ...

Wow. Just a couple of observations / questions we have after that ...

• “When I’m with this woman, I find myself starting to fall in love.” - Ben Flajnik. Nice to see he's reading the same recycled scripts as every Bachelor.
• Do the story editors trying to spice up the show in its 16th season by adding a ton of profanity, or are the girls just badasses who are ad-libbing?
• Between the California winemaker digging up dirt, driving a tractor, and lugging lumber, this has to be the best Bachelor pre-roll footage ever.
• That clip of Ben quasi-telling off Ashley is the best.
• Was that a gratuitous half-naked a$$ shot?

January 2 can't get here fast enough!