'Golden Bachelor' Stars, Producers Weigh In on 'Golden Bachelorette'
Bachelor Nation is holding out hope for The Golden Bachelorette — and The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner thinks it’s a strong possibility one of his former contestants will be at the helm.
“I absolutely do hope that is something that happens,” Gerry told E! News in November 2023. “But 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.”
The Golden Bachelor was a long time coming with ABC promoting and attempting to cast the show for years before the inaugural season premiered in September 2023.
After meeting Gerry’s contestants, fans were quick to share their hope for a Golden Bachelorette season.
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“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,” producer Jason Ehrlich told The Hollywood Reporter in November 2023. “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.”
One of Gerry’s contestants, Kathy Swarts, even told E! News in November 2023 that “everyone would want to be the Golden Bachelorette.”
Others threw their own name out there as suggestions — including Sandra Mason and Susan Noles. Natascha Hardee said she thinks Bachelor Nation should decide.
Keep scrolling to see what the Golden Bachelor contestants and producers have said about being cast as the Golden Bachelorette:
Jesse Palmer
The show’s host’s “personal opinion” was that there would be “a swell in support of there being a Golden Bachelorette” — and it seems Jesse was right.
“I can’t speak on behalf of executives or anybody else, obviously. I’m sure everyone’s waiting to see how this one goes first,” he told E! News in October 2023. “But I know there are thousands of women across America deserving of that.”
As Gerry’s season found success, Jesse told Us that he’s personally hoping for a Golden Bachelorette.
“I’m sort of on the edge of my seat just like everybody else is waiting to find out if [The Golden Bachelorette] is something that’s going to happen. I really hope it is,” he said, adding that there’s “not just one” potential lead from Gerry’s ladies. “For me, what I think makes it really unique is I think there’s many women in Gerry’s season that I think would be outstanding Golden Bachelorettes,” he said. “I think so many of them are deserving and would be fantastic. I’d love to just see a bunch of guys in their 70s sitting around the mansion trying to fix everything. Yeah, I think it would be amazing.”
Gerry Turner
“I think the advice I would give a Bachelorette is to be patient and surrender to the process,” he told Entertainment Weekly in September 2023. “Don’t fight it. Allow it to take you on its path and stay open-minded to what could happen, because you never know what’s around the next corner.”
Faith Martin
Faith became a fan-favorite when she was eliminated by Gerry after hometowns. While she’s “going to need a minute” before she steps back out on the dating scene, Faith said she’d definitely consider becoming a leading lady.
“I would love to find out more about it,” she told E! News in November 2023. “I mean, to have 25 men to choose from? I would have to say yes, I think.”
In a separate interview with People that same month, Faith noted that she really does “believe in the process.”
“I feel like I’ve seen it work and I lived it,” she added. “I know that in such a short time, you can have those kind of feelings, and I trust these producers.”
Ellen Goltzer
Ellen is looking forward to staying in the moment, but she’s down to watch The Golden Bachelorette no matter who the lead is.
“Regardless of who it is, it means that the public wants more,” she told E! News in November 2023. “And that to me is very flattering in itself.”
Joan Vassos
Following her self-elimination because of a family emergency early on in the season, Joan said she’d be “open” to finding love again.
“I believe in the process. Oddly, I kind of came into this as a little bit skeptical and I see how it worked,” she told E! News in November 2023. “It’s like speed dating on steroids. And people find love on the show and I want to find love still.”
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Kathy Swarts
“I don’t think they could find 22 guys who could keep up with me, so there’s that,” Kathy told the publication. “But who wouldn’t want to be? I mean, the chance to find love, the chance to meet great people. Who wouldn’t want that?”
Cary Fetman
Bachelor Nation’s famed stylist is on board.
“I am so excited at the idea of styling a Golden Bachelorette!” he told EW. “My perception of dressing a 70-year-old woman is completely different than it was three months ago. There is truly an inner beauty that comes out with maturity of reaching a certain age that gives a confidence many 20-year-olds do not have.”
Bennett Graebner and Claire Freeland
The Golden Bachelor showrunners voiced their support for a spinoff and teased that something could be in the works. “Nothing would make us happier,” Graebner said during a December Producers Guild FYC panel. “Stay tuned.”
Freeland, for her part, also shared that she would be down for a potential Paradise season, too, which Graebner said they were “ready” for.
