My wife convinced me to watch The Golden Bachelor. The two of us watch some reality television – the best ones seem to be available on Max at the moment – but have never really gotten into The Bachelor as a reality dating competition. My wife’s in elementary education, though, and all the teachers with which she works raved about the current season of the program, which was focusing on a senior citizen widower named Gerry, and that hook sounded intriguing enough to give this season a shot. As expected, this so far is exactly the type of wholesome, gentle, and sweet angle that The Bachelor needed to lure in that older demographic. Our own Heidi Venable praised the opening episodes as genuine and refreshing. But I can’t shake how tragic all of this feels… which honestly makes it that much more compelling.
Gerry Turner, 71, lives in Indiana and is the first ever Golden Bachelor. He’s the father of two, and apparently was pushed to join the show by his children, who wanted to help him move on, emotionally, from the death of his longtime wife and high school sweetheart, Toni. As with all of the other iterations of The Bachelor, the show is focused on two people finding love and spending the rest of their lives together.
Only, with The Golden Bachelor, there are reminders throughout every episode that for these contestants, the “rest of their lives” won’t be that much longer.
Gerry Turner’s ‘Pretty Firm’ Rule
Before the first season of The Golden Bachelor got started, it turns out that Gerry Turner had a ‘pretty firm’ rule, and I have to say, I agree with him. Find out more about it.
It’s not played as somber and gruesome. Both Gerry and the women who are vying for his affections have so much life and vibrancy in them. I’m going to miss the hell out of Natascha, the 60-year-old pro-aging coach who didn’t receive a rose in episode 2 but recommended, on her way out, that the Rose Ceremony be done in chairs. Brilliant suggestion!
Instead, it’s just played as real. Everyone on The Golden Bachelor has a life experience that’s missing from seasons of the show that focus on twentysomethings. When Gerry took 70-year-old Theresa to a diner or bonded with the beautiful Nancy at a photo shoot during which she was asked to wear a wedding gown, they end up sharing hauntingly emotional stories about memories of their deceased spouses, forging real emotional connections over loss. That’s not a side we often see in a dating show, but it’s exactly what helps The Golden Bachelor stand apart from its primetime competition, in the best way possible.
This sense of urgency carries extra weight during the Rose Ceremony, because while Gerry preaches a need for “Hope” that love can happen, even at an older age, the women who are sent home face the reality that one more door has closed. Perhaps that’s why April, a therapist from Florida, stated that she’d “kill” Gerry if he didn’t give her a rose. Dating is hard. Dating as a senior is probably even harder. And yes, these women are feeling something for Gerry while in the mansion. But going home also means starting over, and time – as we are subtly reminded on this show – is running out.
At the end of The Golden Bachelor, there can be only one woman standing by Gerry’s side, and if you believe the rumors that are out there, there are two women who have emerged as frontrunners. I’ll let you click that if you really want to know. All I can tell you is that the emotional, refreshingly honest conversations that the authentic and sweet Gerry has with the new women in his life have hooked me on this new show, and I’d advise you to get on board while the initial season of The Golden Bachelor is still young. Well, you know what I mean.