My TV Love Affair With ‘The Golden Bachelor’

When we first meet the Golden Bachelor on screen, he’s getting ready to welcome the 22 contestants on the show’s opening night. He’s got the fitted suit, the pressed shirt, and in a close-up shot we see… a hearing aid. Production drives home immediately — and beats us over the head for the subsequent nine episodes — that this is a show by and for older people. Adorable quotes about each contestant’s “second chance at love” and recognizing “we don’t know how much time we have left” abound.

And, in the process, Gerry and the women he comes to love touched hearts of all ages — myself included. I cannot remember the last time I fervently texted friends about a live television event, like I did about the Golden Bachelor. I got about a dozen friends, and my 70-year-old mother, to watch one episode, and Gerry’s charming, salt-of-the-earth persona hooked them. That man cried in every episode of the show and poured out his heart on screen, describing the death of his wife. 

Now, as I watch the show’s conclusion, in which Gerry and his new fiancée Theresa marry on live television, I’m realizing just how special this show has been. Sure, it was probably a product of the writers’ strike (and I’m no scab), but I hope it sticks around and that soon we get a Golden Bachelorette. 

If you’re curious about the show — which does feature many close-up shots of people over 70 kissing, a potential barrier to entry for some — look no further. Here are my six reasons why I hope the Golden Bachelor is here to stay.

It’s the same formulaic drama of Bachelor Nation

Yes, it is still reality TV. Yes, there is manufactured drama. Yes, the host boasts that this is the most dramatic moment in Bachelor history. Yes, there was poorly placed sponsored content. 

As always, Gary still picks the wrong person to be his future spouse in the eyes of many fans, who were rooting for Faith or Leslie. (Leslie’s opening line was that she dated Prince! Who could dump her?) He hurt feelings and broke hearts — and cried way more than usual for the franchise’s leading man. But it checked all of the major Bachelor Nation boxes. Including the lead’s brief milkshake ducking during the show’s airing.

But it’s way less time commitment

The Bachelor and its spin-offs, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, have ballooned into these minimum two-hour episodes that air once or twice per week. I simply don’t have the stamina to follow one season to the end live anymore. As if in response, and probably to appease its older audience, the Golden Bachelor was deliciously doable. Each episode is only an hour, there are only nine episodes plus the live wedding, and it’s on at 8 pm! Honestly, the schedule was a selling point to convince many of my friends to try it once and get hooked. 

I can watch with my mom — and all my friends

I am 30, my mom is 70, and most of our family and friends fall somewhere in the middle. It is hard to find media that can unify us all and that we can all watch and discuss. But the Golden Bachelor has been the great uniter in my life this fall. I recapped Gerry’s and the ladies’ tears with the ladies in my life every week and felt connected to my community, even from far away. My mom loved Theresa, I loved Faith, my friend liked Leslie — but we all agreed that Gerry is a babe.

It’s all kind of about death

Hey, you know I love media that contends with mortality. I just didn’t expect it from my reality TV. But Golden Bachelor discusses death and loss in nearly every episode: Gerry, his new love Theresa and most of the contestants were all widowers or widows, and each opened up about that loss on screen and their hopes for another great love in their lives. In his one-on-one date with Theresa in episode two, Gerry says in a talking head, “Theresa has a hole in her heart, just like I do,” about their mutual loss. I was astounded every episode to hear such thoughtful, trauma-informed and caring discussions about love and death. It made it easier to discuss those topics in my own life as a result.

I care about the characters

It was really hard to pick my favorite contestants, because each of Gerry’s girlfriends had such a rich story to share with viewers. While watching this season, I realized how refreshing the Golden Bachelor was, compared to the general Bachelor fodder. Each date normally features two people in their early twenties, whose deep personal suffering doesn’t get much worse than their parents’ divorce. But Gerry and each lady really had something to say. They had lived lives and had wisdom to share. (Did I mention that Leslie dated Prince?!) Plus, it was delightful to see hot older women on TV, strutting their stuff and playing pickleball.

Especially Susan

Who is cool enough to officiate their ex-boyfriend’s wedding on national television? A hairdresser and wedding officiant, Susan did just that last Thursday. I will acknowledge my bias, as Susan and I are both Italian-American women with gross accents from the Philadelphia suburbs. (Go birds.) But even if you don’t share those traits, you will love her: throughout her Golden Bachelor journey, Susan makes meatballs, talks about her farts, and brings strippers to Theresa’s bachelorette party. Her opening line out of the limo was, “I’m very comfortable with six inches,” in reference to her high heels. She is my queen. I hope Susan officiates every Bachelor wedding for years to come and will come have meatballs at my house on Sunday.