When ABC first announced that Bachelor Nation was expanding its reach beyond The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise, fans were intrigued. What other reality dating series could come in and sweep us into a tale of love, drama, and friendship with the same excitement? The Golden Bachelor, of course!
The Golden Bachelor would premiere as a dating show for the ages, with its leading man blowing out 72 candles atop his last birthday cake, and the women vying for his heart were comprised of women aged no younger than 60. We dreamt of episodes with Jesse Palmer no longer having to warn us of “the most dramatic episode ever” or come into a ceremony and let the romantic hopefuls know that no cocktail parties would be happening due to an emotional series of events taking place moments before.
That’s not to say that we didn’t anticipate emotions on the table; falling in love is certainly a journey that lends itself to many laughs and tears, but we expected something different with the premiere of the series. So, after the third episode, we were disappointed to realize that we had set the bar a little too high this time, but more than that — we were sad for Gerry. Kathy Swarts and Theresa Nist are two women who have made it clear that their newly developing relationships with Gerry are something special, and he has returned the same sentiment, so why are they at the center of drama that seems so far beneath them? Who are Kathy and Theresa, and have problems been brewing between them from the beginning? Let’s take a look.
What happened between Katy and Theresa on The Golden Bachelor?
Kathy and Theresa are two of the women attempting to gain the affection of Gerry Turner on The Golden Bachelor, and they are also women who have really started to develop feelings for Gerry. In every Bachelor Nation dating show season, there are always front runners, and Theresa and Kathy have developed quite a bond with Gerry early on.
So why the drama? Well, things started when Kathy walked away from a conversation with Theresa and had a tinge of jealousy creeping up her spine. Instead of allowing herself to feel that, internalize a particularly mean thought or two (we’ve all done it, don’t judge), and move on, she went with an approach that felt a little more Mean Girls than Golden Girls (despite her considering herself a modern-day addition to the crew).
Kathy spilled her emotions to a few of the girls around her, which is also okay, but she didn’t do it with honesty at the core of her “venting,” she spoke from a place of emotion and made it appear that Theresa was putting the other women down, as she thought she was the one for Gerry already. It wasn’t coming from a place of malice when Theresa was speaking to Kathy; it honestly seemed like a friend excited about a budding romance and wanting to share that joy.
Did Theresa take things too far? I’m inclined to say no; I know what falling in love feels like, and it’s a sensation that makes you want to share that joy with others. It’s almost primal.
The truth is, love should make you feel giddy — you should want to talk to your friends about the person giving you butterflies and stealing your heart. Your friends should be the biggest cheerleaders in your journey to romance, and I know that this is a unique experience where they’re all dating the same guy, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we were expecting more.
Theresa was sharing her heart with a friend, and that friend was someone who was also dating Gerry, but they knew that going in. It wasn’t a case of someone snaking behind Kathy’s back and dating the love of her life without her knowledge; they signed up, auditioned, got selected, and then moved into the mansion to be part of a unique dating experience where several women vie for the heart of one man.
They knew this going in. Kathy, in my opinion, showed her true colors here when she couldn’t be happy for her friend. Instead, she spoke about her feelings to other women in the series, which is fine, but she didn’t give Theresa the benefit of telling her story truthfully. Her next step solidified it for us as she also went to Gerry with a story laced with more lies than truth.
“Honestly, in the last 24 hours or so, I’ve had a lot of meanness. People aren’t necessarily very nice. I just had a lot of daggers today, and so I really am trying to keep it together here.” When Gerry asked what was going on and if there was someone specific, she told him that sometimes what we see isn’t what is, and said she just wanted him to be happy. An admirable quality, really, and Gerry agreed, walking away to bring back the first impression rose for Kathy.
Kathy then walks into a room full of women who have yet to receive a rose and shows hers to them, talking about how great Gerry is and how he deserves the best. Wait…is she sharing her romance with a room full of women after saying that Theresa needed to be quiet? That seems…hypocritical.
Now, you might want to call me out and tell me it’s unfair because she wasn’t boasting about their bond, but neither was Theresa. You might tell me that being excited about romance is okay because I just said the same above, and you’d be right again. So why should Kathy get her moment in the spotlight for being upset about the same thing? Of course, as a viewer, I know what happens next, which is why the entire thing likely rubbed me the wrong way altogether. Theresa pulls Kathy aside and asks to talk to her, and Kathy is immediately defensive.
“You’ve made me feel, and I feel like you’re dismissing me, like ‘He and I are going off into the sunset, go pack because you’re going home’ — that’s how you’ve made me feel sometimes. You’ve made me feel like it’s a foregone conclusion like…and don’t cry…when you say things like, oh, you guys have a huge connection. I think that kind of stuff that sounds possessive, territorial, and get the hell out of my way — he’s mine. That’s not a pretty picture, Theresa.”
When Theresa tells her that she was just trying to be honest, Kathy doubles down and tells her that what comes out of our mouths is our responsibility and that we need to own it, and that moment being such a highlight seems like the words she shared might just be on display one day soon, too.
Theresa walked away upset, and Gerry also went to comfort her; he put the pieces together about the drama between the two of them. As viewers know, both women would get a rose in last week’s episode, but we have a feeling we’ve not seen the last of this situation, despite our hopes that we have.
A few of the other women in the room were also sick of the drama, and by the looks of the preview for next week, we’re all going to be more frustrated. It’s time to grab your wine glasses, because Kathy appears to double down next week and goes as far as to say that she wants to “wring the little one’s neck.”
I think she’s the Regina George of this season, and Theresa is our rainbows and smiles gal.
