BY KELLY WYNNE

Bachelorette fans have seen it all: from secret girlfriends back home to desperate cries for attention, but Monday’s episode proposed a Bachelor franchise first. Luke P., one of the men competing for Hannah Brown’s heart this season, confessed he’s already falling in love with the Bachelorette on only the second episode.

Fans on Twitter were quick to make a meme out of the awkward, seemingly too-soon confession. It raised questions of how quickly it’s really possible to fall in love, as well as whether the moment was a scripted attempt to make waves in the Bachelor community early in the season.

How quickly this season was filmed is unclear, but it likely could be no more than a week or two that Luke P. knew Brown before making this public statement. For those who didn’t watch, Luke announced his budding love for Brown during the talent competition segment of a pageant-inspired date—yes, the confession was his talent.

So can you really fall in love in just a few weeks, even when you spend very little time with someone? Newsweek spoke to three relationship experts—Evan Mark Katz, Susan Winter and Melanie Greenberg—last year about the quick relationship between Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande, and all three said no.

According to experts, the initial lust and chemistry in a new relationship can easily be mistaken for love. Can you develop feelings for someone instantly, as in “love at first sight?” Chemically, yes. But what a person in those early stages is feeling isn’t deep, full-grown love. Luke P. may have genuine feelings for Brown and felt like wholesomely expressing it. As Bachelor fans know, it also could be a ploy to get a rose and advance his relationship with Brown quickly in the competitive setting.

Continue reading: https://www.newsweek.com/bachelorette-luke-p-how-long-fall-love-1431550