Out of the 32 women who arrived at the Bachelor Mansion to meet Joey Graziadei during Monday’s Season 28 premiere of The Bachelor, two sisters were among the group of contestants.
Lauren Hollinger, 28, and her sister Allison, 26, were heavily featured in the season opener, working hard for Graziadei’s attention and affection. But it wasn’t the first time the franchise had seen two siblings vie for the lead’s heart.
It was eight years prior when the first set of sisters, twins Haley Palve and Emily Karlsson (formerly Haley Ferguson and Emily Ferguson), competed for the heart of Season 20’s Bachelor Ben Higgins when they were both 22 years old.
The twins sat down with Yahoo Entertainment to reflect on their experiences on the show and what advice they have for the sisters looking for love with the franchise’s newest lead.
Night 1
“I was excited when I heard that there were sisters. Me and Haley were like, ‘Oh my God, there are sisters [appearing] on this season. The producers are doing it again,’” Karlsson told Yahoo Entertainment.
Palve added, “It’s interesting to have, instead of twins, sisters with a difference in age … I’m curious because Emily and I are like the least competitive people against each other. I’m very interested to see how they interact with each other and the Bachelor and just [to see] the differences between them.”
On the season premiere, Lauren and Allison said they weren’t planning to tell the other contestants that they were related. They walked in and pretended to introduce themselves to each other. The plan was short-lived, as they eventually revealed their secret to the group of women in the mansion.
They then told Graziadei, who admitted he already put two and two together from their conversations, in which they both shared similar childhood stories.
“I love watching a sister dynamic. I’m excited to watch their dynamic and see if that changes or if it stays the same or if they’re gonna get mad at each other, like competitive,” Karlsson said.
Filming Season 20
During their time filming the reality TV dating series, then-Bachelor Higgins did a double take when he saw Karlsson and Palve exiting the limo together. During their limo entrance, in which contestants make a first impression on the season’s lead, they all shared a group hug.
The twins, who even had a 2-on-1 date during their time on the show, were eliminated on weeks 7 (Karlsson) and 4 (Palve), respectively.
“At the time [of filming], Emily and I didn’t drink alcohol. We just never had had alcohol before [at that point]. So I think that tamed us a lot. But all the other girls were, like, older than us and so we looked up to them and admired them,” Palve said.
“It was the greatest experience of our life,” Karlsson added. “Looking back on it, I wouldn’t have changed any of it for the world and as weird as it sounds, it definitely made Haley and I a lot closer.”
Advice they would’ve given the sisters before filming
The last time siblings competed on a Bachelor Nation show was in 2022. Another set of twins, Justin and Joey Young, appeared on Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia’s joint season of The Bachelorette. They then followed up their appearance on Bachelor in Paradise Season 8.
As for this season’s sisters, Karlsson and Palve hope they team up, rather than let a chance at love lead them to tear each other down.
“My advice is to kind of lean on each other during this process instead of fighting with each other and competing against each other … I hope that they can remain really, really close and not lose their sisterhood,” Karlsson said. “Your sister is your sister forever.”
She hopes Joey “sends one home early on, so he can get to know the other one better. I kind of feel like that will help him in the long run. … Could you imagine they both go on a hometown date?”
“Could you imagine if they’re the final two options and he has to pick between the two of them?” Palve joked.
Love after ‘Bachelor’
After Higgins’s season, the twins appeared on a number of Bachelor in Paradise seasons but left the beach solo each time.
They later met their matches outside the reality franchise. Emily started dating Swedish hockey player William Karlsson in November 2017, with the pair tying the knot in July 2022. Haley began a relationship with Finnish hockey player Oula Palve in the fall of 2019, and the two married in June 2022.
“We love doing everything together … doing everything in life together is all we’ve ever wanted to do,” Emily Karlsson said. “Now that Haley’s in Finland and I’m in Vegas, [I’m] hoping that one day when our husbands retire, we’re just in the same city for the rest of our lives.”
The Bachelor airs Mondays on ABC and streams on Hulu.
