The Golden Bachelor is arguably the most wholesome show on television of late, and after the inaugural season came to a close, Bachelor Nation was devastated that it was no longer able to watch a heartwarming group of senior citizens try their luck at finding love every Thursday night. Fortunately, the wait is finally over, as a Golden Bachelorette spinoff will be gracing our television screens sooner rather than later.
Losing his wife and high school sweetheart to illness after being happily married for 43 years, 72-year-old Gerry Turner embarked on his second chance at finding love as the first-ever lead of The Golden Bachelor, coining the phrase, “It’s never too late to fall in love again.” Admitting to falling in love with multiple women throughout his experience on the show, Gerry ultimately proposed to Theresa Nist and the two were married in a televised special called The Golden Wedding, but they’re not the only cast members who have remained in the spotlight.
With Bachelor Nation collectively advocating for The Golden Bachelorette to be put into production, it looks like the show is officially in the works according to an interview between Warner Bros. TV Group chairman Channing Dungey and Variety. Our fingers are crossed that a fan favorite like Faith Martin, Ellen Goltzer, or Susan Noles will become the first-ever Golden Bachelorette, but before we get to casting, when can we expect the show to air?
Do we know when The Golden Bachelorette is coming to ABC?
Ahead of the announcement that The Golden Bachelorette will be put into production, the producers indicated that the show was definitely something they wanted to happen in the near future, with producer Jason Ehrlich spilling the tea in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
“We’re really hopeful that this continues to expand. People are really liking the stories that we’re telling, and so I’m really interested to see. It will be different. It will be almost like doing it for the first time all over again with The Golden Bachelorette. What is it going to be like with 20-some older men living in the Bachelor mansion? We don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it will be different and interesting, and that’s what makes me want to watch.”
Dungey confirmed the news on Jan. 22 to Variety, proving that The Golden Bachelorette will be gracing our television screens in the near future:
“I feel like we’re coming off of 2023 in a pretty great place. The Golden Bachelor has been such a sweet success for us, the idea that we could breathe such new life into the franchise at this point. (Is The Golden Bachelorette on the horizon?) We are all poised and ready and the team is set to go… We would love to go back and forth between Golden Bachelor and Golden Bachelorette, and alternating them with the original versions of Bachelor and Bachelorette.”
While he does not have nearly as much say as the producers or the Warner Bros. TV Group chairman, host Jesse Palmer admitted that he would be on board with the idea of a female-led spinoff. As he told Today, “As the show goes on, you learn more about these women, what they’ve been through. I think there’s going to be a swell in support of there being a Golden Bachelorette. That’s my personal opinion.”
Who could be the first Golden Bachelorette?
As Golden Bachelor Turner told E! News, “I absolutely do hope that is something that happens… There’s no way I could recommend one out of those 22 women that would be better than any of the others. They’d all be wonderful candidates for it.” While he was unable to pinpoint which of his former girlfriends would the the best lead for the spinoff, some of the women have expressed that they would be open to the idea.
Given their devastating departures on The Golden Bachelor ⏤ with both women being eliminated shortly after telling Gerry that they were in love with him ⏤ Faith Martin and Ellen Goltzer are strong contenders. Martin shared with Parade that if producers asked her to be the Golden Bachelorette, she would do it “because it’s been one of the best experiences of my life doing [The Golden Bachelor], and I would love for them to vet the people that I was interested in dating. Find them for me! Of course I would say yes.” Goltzer has also admitted that she would be eager to try her luck at finding love for the second time on television, “because then it shows that it was successful and that people are looking for it and people want to see it.”
Will either woman ⏤ or any of their peers ⏤ manage to become the lead of the soon-to-be hit show? There’s no way to know for sure, but it’s safe to say that we’ll be keeping up with every Bachelor Nation social media account until further notice so we can be among the first to know who we’ll be rooting for after Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor.
