It goes without saying that fans of the Bachelor franchise were blown away by the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor, which instantly solidified itself as the most wholesome season Bachelor Nation had ever laid its collective eyes on. 72-year-old Gerry Turner embarked on his Golden Bachelor journey after losing his wife and high school sweetheart to illness following a happy 43-year marriage, and while he had a throng of terrific hopefuls to choose from, he ultimately chose to spend the rest of his life with Theresa Nist. The pair tied the knot in a televised special called The Golden Wedding just a few weeks later, which many of the Golden Bachelor contestants attended.
When the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor came to a close, Bachelor Nation was devastated that the group of senior women it had grown to know and love over the previous weeks would be leaving their television screens. Fortunately for all of us, that is no longer the case. With a Golden Bachelorette spinoff in the works, chances are high that at least one of the former contestants will secure their spot as our next leading lady. That said, given the number of standout women Gerry ultimately sent home, the very nature of The Golden Bachelorette presents a unique problem for ABC to solve.
The Golden Bachelorette‘s one glaring issue
When asked who would make the best Golden Bachelorette, Gerry told E! News, “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.” With women like Leslie Fhima, Faith Martin, Ellen Goltzer, Joan Vassos, and Susan Noles all making quite the impression on viewers across America ⏤ and leaving the beloved competition series as single pringles ⏤ it’s highly likely that one of these women will become the next Golden Bachelorette. In fact, both Faith and Ellen have expressed particular interest in taking on the mantle.
Therein lies the problem: there are so many quality women to choose from! How is ABC ever going to narrow it down to just one? It’s not that ABC can’t, it just feels a little heartless to choose, say, Faith but not also give an opportunity to Leslie or Susan. Leslie in particular went through her fair share of public emotions, especially on finale night. (I mean, our girl was sobbing.) Passing on her entirely feels wrong, but so does not giving Ellen or Joan another shot at true love. With dozens of incredible women to choose from, it will be seemingly impossible for ABC decide which one will be the leading lady of the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelorette. We, however, have come up with what we believe to be the perfect solution to this dilemma.
The Golden Bachelorette’s perfect solution
Rather than deciding between Leslie, Faith, Ellen, Joan, Susan, and all of the other amazing ladies we met during The Golden Bachelor’s debut season, why not bring several of them on board? This would not be out of the ordinary for the Bachelor franchise given that season 19 featured two women ⏤ Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey ⏤ as well as an unprecedented number of suitors. In seasons 11 and 16 of The Bachelorette, there were two leads; however, Rachel and Gabby were the first individuals to co-lead a season from start to finish. The groundwork for this possibility has been laid, so if ABC seizes it for the debut season of The Golden Bachelorette, hello! We’ll get to see all of our favorite ladies again and they’ll all have a second shot at finding true love ⏤ together! Win-win-win!
Now, there’s one potential downside to having The Golden Bachelorettes (plural) become a thing ⏤ at least for the ladies themselves. What happens if two of them (or, god forbid, all of them) fall for the same guy? Talk about drama. (We can already hear Kathy saying “zip it!” to anyone who comes close to her main man.) This would be a negative for the women, but not so much for us as viewers. ABC producers know that drama draws eyeballs, and tossing more than one of them into the title role could give them a ratings boost that even The Golden Bachelor couldn’t hope to achieve. We’d love to see the ASKN girls ⏤ April Kirkwood, Susan Noles, Kathy Swarts, and Nancy Hulkower ⏤ all getting their own love stories at the same time, but getting to see them navigate the inevitable drama together, especially now that they’re all friends having gone through the first Golden journey as a group? Now that’s television.
It remains unclear whether or not ABC will take our idea and run with it, but it’s safe to say that we’ll be keeping up with our leading ladies’ social media accounts until an official announcement is made and we have a clearer idea of who will follow in Joey Graziadei’s rose-wielding footsteps. From where we’re sitting, we hope it’s several someones. Your move, ABC.