With The Golden Bachelor and Bachelor In Paradise airing back-to-back on ABC, Thursday nights are always a treat for fans of Bachelor Nation.
As of September 28, inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor is officially underway, with viewers and critics alike deeming it to be one of the most heartwarming shows on television right now. Serving as a spin-off of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, The Golden Bachelor brings together senior citizens to vie for the heart of Gerry Turner, a restaurant owner who tragically lost his his wife and high school sweetheart after 43 years of marriage. Because of this new endeavor, the 72-year-old has even coined the phrase, “It’s never too late to fall in love again” — how sweet is that?
Filming this past August for about three weeks (as opposed to the seven weeks it takes to record The Bachelor and The Bachelorette), The Golden Bachelor follows the same format as the rest of the shows within The Bachelor franchise, consisting of one-on-one dates, group dates, rose ceremonies, and more. With the potential to end in an engagement, will Gerry find love for the second time when the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor comes to a close? Only time will tell…
As for Bachelor in Paradise, the beloved competition series unites individuals from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette who may have not found love within the franchise just yet, connecting on the beach in Mexico a second chance (or perhaps even a third chance — we’re talking about you, Rachel) at finding their perfect match. With some of Bachelor Nation’s most iconic couples stemming from Bachelor In Paradise, from Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert, to Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon, to Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt and beyond, Bachelor In Paradise has proven to work, despite its rather unconventional structure.
Following a Love Island-esque format (which varies from that of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette), contestants couple up with one another rose ceremony after rose ceremony during Bachelor in Paradise, however, with an uneven number of men and women at all times, those left without a match will be eliminated at the end of each rose ceremony. In the end, the remaining couples can decide what they want to do moving forward — break up, continue a relationship beyond the beach, or even get engaged on the show.
Although a few more seasons of The Golden Bachelor, as well as The Golden Bachelorette, would need to take place, fans of Bachelor Nation have been advocating for Golden Bachelor In Paradise, serving as essentially a senior citizen version of the hit competition show.
While the spin-off sounds like a great idea in theory, Gerry Turner himself shared his opinions on the potential of Golden Bachelor In Paradise in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, and he was not exactly on board. Keep scrolling to see for yourself…
In said interview, reporter Kristen Baldwin asked, “Finally, I’m starting a campaign to get ABC to greenlight Golden Bachelor in Paradise. Which Golden Bachelor women do you think would thrive on a beach-set dating show?”
While fans of the franchise expected Gerry to be a strong advocate for the spin-off, he seemed to have some reservations, admitting that he is not necessarily supportive of the idea of Golden Bachelor in Paradise.
He spilled, “I just don’t know if that’s something I would support, but I do know there’s an awful lot of individuals from The Golden Bachelor that would be fantastic on a beach. They would have the time of their lives!”
Nonetheless, Gerry is confident that Golden Bachelor in Paradise would be a slam dunk, and he is hopeful that the wonderful women he met throughout the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor would be able to find love the second time around.
While Baldwin implied a “beach-set dating show” in her question to Gerry, longtime Bachelor In Paradise bartender, Wells Adams, has admitted to “having a vision of what Golden Bachelor in Paradise needs to look like,” sharing said vision in an exclusive interview with Parade.
While the original version of the series has taken place at the Playa Escondida Resort in Sayulita since the very beginning, the 39-year-old believes that Golden Bachelor In Paradise should shy away from the shores of Mexico and move to a different location — not everyone wants to see their favorite senior citizens running around in bikinis!
“It needs to happen in Florida or in Scottsdale or in Palm Springs. It needs to be way too hot,” Wells dished. “We need to be filming it there, preferably in an older age home or a La Quinta situation where everyone needs to be riding around in golf carts.”
Regardless of where it takes place, our fingers are crossed that the inaugural season of Golden Bachelor In Paradise is in the near future.
Until Golden Bachelor In Paradise graces our screens, fans of The Bachelor franchise can catch new episodes of The Golden Bachelor at 8pm ET/PT, as well as new episodes of Bachelor In Paradise at 9pm ET/PT every Thursday on ABC. You will not want to miss them!
