The one thing you need to remember before judging the thirstiest Bachelorette in history.

Hey, so last night’s episode of The Bachelorette was a bit, erm, steamy, wasn’t it?

On Thursday night’s instalment of the reality TV dating show, things got a bit hot under the ole collar when Ali Oetjen went and kissed not one, but two males.

First, 31-year-old Charlie shared a fear-fuelled encounter with Ali’s lips after a completely regulated and safe near-death experience playing Twister 61 metres in the sky.

Then, after pretending to be on the cover of a Mills & Boon novel with Robert in the annual Bachelor/Bachelorette photo shoot, Ali approached him at the cocktail party to do what she’d “been thinking about doing all day.”

Kiss. She’d been thinking about kissing him all day.

The reaction on Twitter was mixed. Mostly positive, but mixed. (We’d rather not link back to the negative tweets, you can find them yourself on the #BacheloretteAU hashtag.)

Intentionally missed #BacheloretteAU last night. Saw some hype on here and watched it tonight. Arghz, omfg whatever happened to taking it slow?! That’s faster than the bullet trains in ???????? #Ali! pic.twitter.com/nKrjaxsEqH

— Jade é Rabbit (@JadeZRabbit) October 11, 2018

Ali ???? can ???? kiss ???? however ???? many ???? dudes ???? she ???? wants ???? #BacheloretteAU

— Hailey. (@HAILEY_wood) October 11, 2018

I am here for Ali kissing every guy she is horny for #BacheloretteAU pic.twitter.com/KeTiHXpcih

— Jenna Guillaume But Spooky (@JennaGuillaume) October 11, 2018

Don’t get the people banging on about Ali pashing so early as if every single season of #TheBachelorAU wasn’t a snogfest from day one#BacheloretteAU

— Scary (@McScaryFace) October 11, 2018

Even Osher had some thoughts. Many thoughts.

I’m right with you. We don’t blink when a bloke does it. #BacheloretteAU https://t.co/ox7qwY1XPd

— Osher Günsberg (@oshergunsberg) October 11, 2018

Yes. #BacheloretteAU https://t.co/UJZrbzP3Kn

— Osher Günsberg (@oshergunsberg) October 11, 2018

100% same. #BacheloretteAU https://t.co/PlUdr37dki

— Osher Günsberg (@oshergunsberg) October 11, 2018

I like that Ali’s a TOTAL rulebreaker. Blowing the ‘no pashing at the cocktail party’ rule out of the water. Love it. #BacheloretteAU pic.twitter.com/i3qKZZpE7k

— Osher Günsberg (@oshergunsberg) October 11, 2018

But whatever you might think about Ali kissing on the first date or kissing on the first cocktail party, there’s one thing you need to remember before judging the thirstiest Bachelorette in history.

This is a show about finding love. The woman has been through the reality TV dating show ringer and doesn’t really have time to mess around.

Considering Ali’s made the decision to put herself out there on national TV to find love for a third time – the first being on Tim Robards’ season of The Bachelor in 2013 and earlier this year on Bachelor in Paradise – she probably doesn’t care for BS or walking on eggshells.

She’s also in the driver’s seat for the first time. Throughout her other reality TV experiences, Ali’s mostly had decisions about her circumstances made for her. This year, she’s in the position where she can finally do what she wants, and if what she wants is to kiss as many as she wants, power to her.

We unpack the best moments from Ali’s latest week in the mansion on our Bach Chat podcast. Post continues after audio. 

Sure, the season’s first kiss with Bill on Wednesday night’s premiere was… unexpected, perhaps most of all for Bill himself. But who said Ali has to follow the well-trodden paths of all the Bachelors and Bachelorettes before her? Just because we haven’t seen this kind of forwardness before, particularly from past Bachelorette seasons, doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

If anything, the most recent season of The Bachelor would suggest we’re going to see a lot of more of a woman being sexually assertive on TV for the next six weeks.

Ali is making her own damn rules about how she’s going about this thing, and who are we to judge?

Our only job is to sit back and watch it all unfold.

Oh, we should also mention the bit where she’s living her best life surrounded by people she fancies and who fancy her back. Just keep doing you, Ali.

What are your thoughts on The Bachelorette Australia 2018 so far? Tell us in the comments below.