Bachelor Pad Eliminates First Contestants

“Bachelor Pad” kicked off  Season 3 on Monday with 15 former “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” contestants — along with five “Super Fans” — competing for a $250,000 prize.

After the past contestants initially met and reacquainted themselves with each other in the mansion, it seemed the season would be marked by old rivalries, including “Bachelor 16″ veterans Jaclyn Swartz and Rachel Trueheart poised to pounce on Blakely Jones, and “Bachelorette 5″ alums Reid Rosenthal and Ed Swiderski going head-to-head.

But it ended up that the five “Super Fans” of the “Bachelor” and Bachelorette” franchises were the real targets.

The “Super Fans” are 22-year-old twins Brittany and Erica Taltos (playing as one contestant), real estate agent David Mallet, SWAT Team officer Chris Bain, 22-year-old student Donna Zitelli, and Jumbo Tron operator Paige Vigil.

In the episode’s first challenge, male and female contestants had to pair off and get into 10 red heart-shaped boxes connected to a crane that tilted.

In the task, dubbed “Falling in Love,” the first couple to fall out of their own tilting heart would be penalized, while the last remaining team inside a heart-shaped box would automatically earn immunity for the first week, and go on a special date.

The first to tumble out of their heart — and be penalized — were Erica Rose from Season 9 of “The Bachelor” and Season 7 “Bachelorette” contestant Nick Peterson.

Newbie David paired up with Brittany, one of the twins — and won the contest, much to the chagrin of most of the other competitors, who had hoped to quickly eliminate two “Super Fans” right off the bat.

On his victory date with both twins, David went to the Santa Monica pier, where the winning “Super Fans” went on several rides and “pulled a Courtney and Ben” by going skinny-dipping.

Much of the remainder of the first episode after the date was filled with the contestants plotting and aligning over who to kick off the show.

David told veteran Erica that he wanted her off, and further drew the lines between the past contestants and the newly added “Super Fans.”