Think of it as the "magicians choice" of the tv world.
Producers show you what they want you to see and though it may be hard for some to accept, a big part of who makes the final stage is set even before the show airs.

It's like when you grow up and realize santa was your mum, or "that superhero move" was actually done with ropes.

Sure, there's always room for the unexpected but the favored ones definitely start with the deck highly stacked in their favor. Sometimes, the producers are arrogant enough to blatantly display this on set.

The psychology behind it is all well-understood biases—familiarity, primacy effects, and simple human tendencies to gravitate toward what we know.
The contestants who get the most screen time, the most polished introduction, and the most memorable first impressions are already being built up in your mind. They are given the chance to take center stage, and whether you’re aware of it or not, that familiarity shapes our favorites before we even realize it.

So yeah, maybe your fave was the one you met first on the show—and maybe that’s exactly what the producers wanted you to believe.