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The Bachelor 2023 Night One didn’t go as planned for Madison Johnson. The 26-year-old business owner pulled Zach Shallcross aside multiple times in an attempt to get time with him. However, her plan ended up backfiring, and Madison went home without a rose. Despite this, the Bachelor contestant doesn’t regret putting all her cards on the table.

During night one of The Bachelor 2023, Madison dresses Zach Shallcross in winter gear.
Madison Johnson and Zach Shallcross | Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images

Zach sent Madison home during ‘The Bachelor’ 2023 night one

Madison Johnson is a 26-year-old contestant on The Bachelor 2023. During her limo entrance, Madison shared her North Dakota roots with Zach, teaching him some slang from her home state. Afterward, the pressure was on for time with the Bachelor.

Only 20 of the 30 women would receive roses during night one, so Madison wasted no time shooting her shot. She talked to Zach about wanting him to meet her family and later interrupted Olivia M.’s conversation with Zach to talk to him again.

During their second conversation, the pair shared a kiss that Zach didn’t feel good about. “Madison, I think she’s very sweet, but I don’t know if I was feeling that kiss. It didn’t feel right. The kiss sat wrong with me,” the Bachelor told cameras. After their awkward kiss, Madison pulled Zach to talk to him before the rose ceremony, and he decided to send her home.

Madison Johnson doesn’t regret pulling Zach multiple times

Madison Johnson’s time on The Bachelor 2023 ended with her in tears. She kept it together while saying goodbye to Zach but sobbed as she left Bachelor Mansion. “I cannot believe I gave up my life for him, and I know what I deserve, and it’s not that,” Madison told cameras.

Although her time on the show was cut short, Madison doesn’t regret pulling Zach aside multiple times. “I believe everything happens for a reason,” she shared during an episode of the Click Bait with Bachelor Nation podcast.

“I do look back and think, ‘If I didn’t pull him that second time, would things have been different?’ But he wasn’t my person, and I know that and so why prolong it and regret making that decision? So I don’t regret it. I regret some of the tears I shed,” laughed Madison.

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Madison’s comment about “giving up my life” for Zach might have seemed extreme, but while appearing on the podcast, she explained what she really meant. “It’s not that I gave up my life for a man I’ve never met. It is, I put my life on hold to pursue a chance at love with someone who might be that person.”

Madison also shared that she had to put her business in medical aesthetic marketing on the back burner to go on the show. “You have to sacrifice a lot in order to put this opportunity into reality,” the contestant added.

Getting sent home on night one of ‘The Bachelor’ is rough

Of course, getting sent home on night one of The Bachelor is disappointing, no matter what, and there is a lot of preparation that goes into the weeks before the first episode.

“You’re so excited, you’ve packed for months, you haven’t talked to your friends and family for a really long time, you’re feeling a little isolated, and you’re so excited to meet this guy that you kind of left your normal life for,” The Bachelor Season 22 contestant  Bri Amaranthus, told Bustle. After a long night of filming with free-flowing alcohol, it’s not surprising that many contestants end up in tears.

The Bachelor Season 27 premieres on Jan. 23, 2023, on ABC.