Tall, dark, and handsome Ben Higgins has a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to find the love of his life on the Season 20 of The Bachelor from a selection of 28 lucky women. Because this is something that only happens "once in a lifetime" —something we're sure to be reminded of just a few times this season — first impressions count. Some women choose to show up with miniature horses, others on hoverboards, but Shushanna's Bachelor entrance was unlike any other contestant limo-exit I've ever seen. Why? Because it left me wondering if Shushanna speaks English, or if this was a Bachelor twist to prove that the only language two people need to speak is the language of love.
Let's just recap why this is such a mystery. In the premiere episode of The Bachelor, Shushanna exits the limo to an eager Ben and starts speaking Russian. Ben did what we all would do to someone speaking a foreign language we didn't understand — smile and politely nod, hoping you weren't agreeing to anything you'd regret. Shushanna continued to speak Russian, slipping her name into the one-sided conversation, which Ben had to ask for again because he didn't learn Russian in the four seconds it took for Shushanna to get from the limo to the front of the house. Overall, it was a pretty great first impression. No one will forget the girl who continued to speak Russian, despite Ben's confusion.
In the house, though, the cameras caught Shushanna continuing to speak Russian, which is where the confusion sets in. Is she just retelling the women what she did for her first impression, or does Shushanna actually not speak English. I wouldn't put it past the producers of the show to test the "language of love" theory and put a non-English speaker in the mix of contestants, but that's going to have to wait until next season, because Shushanna does speak English, in addition to Russian, and who knows, maybe she speaks fifteen other languages.
The first piece of evidence supporting Shushanna's English speaking skills is her ABC biography. The bio is in English, and well-written English at that. I'd applaud ABC if they stuck to the charade and had her bio in Russian, but realistically, this is probably a night-one shtick that will be abadoned after the first rose ceremony. Here is what Sushanna had to say about particpating on The Bachelor:
At some point I stopped believing in love again. I thought something was wrong with me or I’m just so busy that I don’t want anyone in my life. Maybe this get away will help to open my eyes and meet someone special. And even if it doesn’t happen on the show, I believe this show will help me with my hopes and loss.
Shushanna seems to be fluent in both languages. On a social media account on VK.com, you can see that she posts a lot in Russian, but also shares posts in English as well. So, while Ben may never know what Shushanna said the night she walked out of the limo, if she continues on in the season, her and Ben will have no problem communicating. Hey, maybe he can even pick up a few words from her as well.
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Images: Craig Sjodin/ABC; Rick Rowell/ABC
