Tempers Flare in 'Bachelor' Premiere as Bizarre Sister Twist Brings Day 1 Drama

Drama and cringe-worthy moments go hand-in-hand on The Bachelor, and fans didn't have to wait long for either on Joey Graziadei’s Season 28 premiere.

In a twist we haven't seen since Season 20 (when twins Emily Ferguson and Haley Ferguson competed for Ben Higgins’ heart), two sisters are among the record-setting field of ladies vying for Joey's final rose.

Philadelphia natives Allison and Lauren Hollinger at first tried to keep their sisterhood a secret from Joey and the other contestants, but ultimately decided to ‘fess up to everyone.

The other 30 women in the mansion were horrified by the news.

At the start of the episode, Allison, 26, and her older sister Lauren, 28, arrived in separate limos to meet Joey, 28, for the first time.

Allison<p>ABC</p>
Allison

ABC

Lauren<p>ABC</p>
Lauren

ABC

Lauren stood out as the more assertive sister, beating Joey in a beer chugging contest on night one.

She was determined to kiss Joey first and said, “I am a winner and I always win.”

ABC/Lauren wore black and challenged Joey to a chugging contest, while her more demure younger sister dazzled in a much paler shimmery gown.
ABC/Lauren wore black and challenged Joey to a chugging contest, while her more demure younger sister dazzled in a much paler shimmery gown.

The two sisters kept their secret through their separate limo entrances and mingling time in the house. They even shook hands and pretended to be meeting for the first time!

Allison and Lauren huddled privately and agreed they both loved Joey, didn't want to fight with each other, and would stay and vie for him.

But Allison, a realtor, told Lauren, a registered nurse, that they should probably tell the other ladies about their relationship.

Allison told cameras, "I love my sister so much. She's my best friend in the world. We gravitate towards each other always, so it's getting harder and harder to keep that a secret."

Lauren noted, "I'm going to be so mad if Ali kisses Joey before me. Girl, I will slap you. My biological time clock is ticking more than hers. I'm the older one so I am going to say dibs on first. I can do that!"

They addressed the group and Allison said, “There has been a weird elephant in the room. We don’t think we can continue without letting everybody know.”

Then they announced together in unison, “We are sisters!”

When asked if this was the first time they’d dated the same guy, Lauren told the gals, “We have in the past like there was overlap, but nothing like, weird.”

Competitor Lexi told cameras, “I don’t have a sister but if I did, I just don’t think I could date the same guy. Everyone’s here thinking the same thing. These girls are nuts. Yeah. It was shocking.”

Autumn told cameras, “I don’t know how Lauren and Allison will navigate that conversation with Joey and if I was Joey, I would be like this is kind of weird." The blonde contestant added with a smile, "But I’m just going to sit back like a fly on the wall and watch it all.”

Fans also weighed in as they watched the show on Monday night, with an X (formerly Twitter) user called crazy bachelor fan writing, “the sisters need therapy not the bachelor.”

X (formerly Twitter) user bachbitch posted, “PLSSS NOT THE SISTERS KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY.”

With a video of Steve Carell shaking his head on The Office and saying, “Nope. Don’t like that,” Accept This Rose also chided, “Sisters?! ABC is wrong for this.”

The Morning Bach tweeted, “why would you put yourself in the position of dating your sisters potential future husband #thebachelor #bachelor.”

The Collegeville, Pennsylvania tennis pro listened to both women telling him in separate alone time that they grew up near Philadelphia. Joey, who also is a native of that area, had an inkling something was fishy, saying, "I feel like I've heard this story before."

Allison playfully "stole" Joey from Lauren as they were on the brink of kissing. Then Allison wound up smooching The Bachelor first.

But Joey wasn’t surprised when they finally confessed to him together that they were sisters.

"Is it weird that I kind of put that together?" Joey smiled to them.

"I'm excited to get to know you both."

Still, in the understatement of all time, Joey sighed to cameras, “There’s a lot of problems that can come with that.”

With a video of Ryan Gosling looking completely confused, the X (formerly Twitter) account Accept This Rose snarked, “Joey the moment he realized Lauren and Allison are sisters.”

One Twitter critic, petersgolfcart 2.0, wrote, “the sisters feel more like they’re competing with each other than actually pursuing Joey.”

Another Twitter user, notDaleJR88, wrote humorously about the sister act, “Ok.. so hear me out... Sorry I'm admitting this gentlemen. The ONLY interest guys would have in dating sisters... involves the Fantasy Suite.”

Before the premiere aired, Joey diplomatically told Parade about the sisters in an exclusive interview, “It definitely wasn’t something I expected coming in. I think the best part about it, from my side, is that they seem very OK with it. How they handled that on night one, how they talked me through it, they gave me confidence, and I think what I was most thinking of was what they were feeling and to make sure I wasn’t pitting not only women against each other but sisters against each other. That’s something I never would want to do but I mean, they were OK with it, and I just had to roll with it.”