‘9-1-1’ And ‘The Bachelor’ Crossover: Joey Graziadei And Jesse Palmer Make A Wild First Impression On The 118

In honor of 9-1-1‘s historic 100th episode, the beloved Los Angeles-based procedural teamed up with The Bachelor for one of ABC’s most dramatic crossovers ever.

When 9-1-1‘s Oliver Stark first confirmed the 118 was headed to the famous Bachelor mansion, I’ll admit my mind went straight to more predictable emergencies like a pool-related accident, a Night 1 arrival fainting from nerves, or — forgive me, franchise — a fire in the kitchen from contestant cooking gone wrong. Instead, the show enlisted help from Joey Graziadei (arguably America’s best Bachelor) and franchise host Jesse Palmer to pull off an unhinged emergency that stayed true to 9-1-1‘s wacky, incredibly extra core while simultaneously poking fun at the long-running reality series.

“It was crazy to be back at the mansion again, and it was it was a really fun experience getting to try to be an actor,” The Bachelor‘s Season 28 lead told Decider in a Zoom interview. “But I didn’t really act. I was just being myself. I played Joey. So that was easy,” he laughed.

Season 7, Episode 4, “Buck Bothered and Bewildered,” kicked off with our best Bachelor boy standing outside of the mansion looking sharp as ever in a burgundy suit. In keeping with Night 1 tradition, a limo pulled up the glistening driveway and a woman named Angelique eagerly emerged in a sparkly dress. “When I found out who the Bachelor was going to be I literally had full-body chills,” the 24-year-old podcast producer from Portland, Oregon, confidently explained in a talking head. “I want this. America wants this. And he deserves it.” Next up, Ashley A., a 23-year-old flight attendant from Corona, California, handed Joey a pair of wings and asked if he believed in love at first flight. Then, 23-year-old Ashley C., a dental hygienist from Orlando, Florida, arrived, prompting Joey to say, “Cool. Another Ashley.”

On top of highlighting The Bachelor‘s seemingly endless string of corny Night 1 pick-up lines, questionably young contestants, and repetitive names, 9-1-1‘s writers even showed a bunch of tennis balls falling out of a limo as a nod to the tennis teaching professional’s real-life premiere. The the only thing that could have made the spot-on parody better? Throwing a fan-favorite Season 28 contestant like Maria Georgas into the mix. (She is an actor, after all!)

Just when the opening started to feel a little too on-the-nose for Bachelor Nation, everything went off the rails, 9-1-1 style. A limo peeled into the mansion’s driveway and a woman wearing a floor-length gown nervously exited the driver’s seat holding a bottle of glue. “Hi Joey. My name is…Conchata. I’m stuck on you and I hope you’ll be stuck on me too,” she said. Everything about the entrance was suspicious, but when the woman told Joey she thought her name was Mexican, a record scratched, the camera swerved to producers, and everyone realized the contestant was a fraud.

“She doesn’t have a headshot! She doesn’t exist!” a man screamed. “Someone get her off the set!” another producer ordered. Fake Conchata held up her glue bottle and warned everyone to stand back. “She has anthrax! Or glitter!” a woman screamed with equal levels of horror. (Amazing.) The rogue contestant introduced herself as Bailey, an esthetician from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, who’s dreamed of being on The Bachelor since she was 21. Then came the emergency: She glued herself to the driveway, of course!

9-1-1 cut to a starstruck Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) answering a call from Jesse Palmer and trying to keep her cool alongside fellow Bachelor super fan, Josh (Bryan Safi). What really elevated the scene was the knowledge that was art mirroring life, because Hewitt — who made this whole ABC crossover happen — is a is big Bachelor fan IRL. She memorably attended The Golden Bachelor finale and reportedly dated former Bachelor star Ben Flajnik back in the day. Though Flajnik ultimately claimed, “ending up with a Hollywood celebrity is not something that I want,” Hewitt married actor Brian Hallisay (who starred alongside her on 9-1-1) in 2013, so she got her happily ever after in the end.

As for her 9-1-1 husband, Chimney (Kenneth Choi) swooned at the sight of Joey while Hen (Aisha Hinds) and team realized they couldn’t break down Bailey’s industrial-grade glue. As Joey looked on in wide-eyed defeat, his contestants started to hit on Buck and Eddie, who politely declined the advances and pulled out the big guns for this rescue, or rather, the big jackhammers. “We don’t own this house! We rent! You start jackhammering we’re gonna have to shoot the rest of the season in Glendale,” a producer screamed. (Though it’s technically not true, I’d like all of Bachelor Nation to think the 118 is the reason Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette will be filming in a new location.)

In Bailey’s time of need, nice guy Joey stepped in to comfort and distract her, even wiping a tear from her face in an ode to his signature Season 28 move. Meanwhile, Chimney snuck behind a limo to answer a FaceTime call from Maddie and Josh, who begged him to reveal the new Bachelor lead and squealed after learning it was the Bachelorette alum.

The eventful eight and a half minute scene, which ended with Bailey asking Joey to visit her in prison and Jesse advising against it, was a deeply unserious, super silly celebration of two hit ABC series that brought beloved casts together in honor of 9-1-1‘s 100-episode milestone.

Fans can add this to the list of successful 9-1-1 crossover episodes alongside Season 2’s 9-1-1: Lone Star collab and start manifesting their next dream crossover for Season 8. Peter Krause already has an idea…

New episodes of 9-1-1 premiere Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.