Summary
- The women on The Golden Bachelor are just as catty as in previous seasons, proving that age doesn’t change attitudes.
- Sandra sacrificed her daughter’s wedding for a chance at love with Gerry, highlighting the women’s dedication and desire for a second shot at love.
- The women on The Golden Bachelor have shown that love is always worth fighting for, defying age and bringing hope and joy to their lives.
The Golden Bachelor was an answer to the public’s demand to celebrate the possibility of love at any age with reality dating shows. Audiences were surprised that ABC listened to their outcry and took a chance on casting a bachelor who was a proud card-carrying member of AARP. 72-year-old Gerry Turner proved to be the perfect candidate to shoulder the burden of proving love can be an exciting pulse-racing experience even for senior citizens. With golden blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, Gerry immediately appealed to the female audience as one of the hottest grandpas on the planet. Besides his good looks, Gerry is even more likable than previous bachelors because of his compassion and thoughtfulness with the ladies. Gerry’s counterparts are beautiful, fit, and accomplished just like previous contestants on The Bachelor, the only difference is they are 60+, some divorced, others widowed, mostly grandmothers and retired, all looking for a second or third shot at a life partner.
The Women on ‘The Golden Bachelor’ Are Just as Catty as Previous Women on ‘The Bachelor’
Anyone who thought there would be less cattiness in the bachelor house with women over the age of 60 was sorely mistaken. Gerry’s age and experience have worked to make him a more patient and empathetic bachelor, but the years have done the opposite for the ladies hoping to win his heart. The old adage of women getting older and wiser does not apply age and experience have worked together to make the women more emotional, tense, and even desperate to be chosen by Gerry.
70-year-old, Kathy from Austin, TX seemed sweet enough when introduced as a retired educational consultant obsessed with Christmas. In confessionals, Kathy shared her insecurities about getting additional time with Gerry and seemed worried that she would be overlooked. When 69-year-old financial services provider Teresa was chosen for the first solo date, Kathy offered a thin congratulations, but her eyes told a very different story. After the date a dreamy-eyed Teresa shared all the blissful details with her housemates while many of the women listened through gritted teeth. Kathy accused Teresa of trying to make the other women feel like they didn’t have a chance and eventually even told Gerry that Teresa was bragging about their date. After Gerry talked with Teresa, but decided to keep her around, Kathy lashed out at Teresa urging her to just “shut her mouth.” Teresa ended up in tears and sobbed the entire incident to Gerry. Eventually, Kathy was sent home but not before she’d stirred up a heap of drama in the house and had half the house in their feelings about not getting an opportunity to convince Gerry that he belongs with them.
Sandra Misses Her Daughter’s Wedding For a Chance at Love with ‘The Golden Bachelor’
Gerry has spent way more time wiping tears from the eyes of his bachelorettes than kissing them. He’s consoled several widows reminiscing about the last time they spent with their husbands and even one bachelorette who lamented she’d made horrible choices in her life with men and had never been treated right by a man in her past. 75-year-old Sandra from Doraville, GA was ecstatic when she won the pickleball tournament against the other ladies, but to play pickleball with Gerry she’d passed up the opportunity to attend her daughter’s wedding. Gerry was touched by her gesture, specifically because he hadn’t spent any alone time with Sandra which made her sacrifice that much more surprising. He pulled her to the side and insisted she FaceTime her daughter right after the nuptials. It was a gallant gesture on Gerry’s part, but a questionable sacrifice on Sandra’s part who ironically ended up not receiving a rose shortly thereafter.
As the number of ladies left battling for Gerry’s heart continues to dwindle, the women have gotten more aggressive in their approach to win his affection. A recent date to the county fair, resulted in all five remaining ladies taking the opportunity to reveal their innermost feelings to Gerry. For fans watching it felt like each of the women was reading from the same monologue as each of them repeated they were falling in love with him and wanted to put their cards on the table. In seasons past some of the women have decided to share their feelings, but others hold back wanting to allow the man to set the tone, however, it appears that after age 50 women have given up on decorum and have lost the ability to be coy when it comes to their feelings. Gerry wiped tears from all of their eyes and affirmed them in various ways, but it was clear the emotional pull was taking a toll on him. He told several women, “You’re my girl” although it’s painfully clear they all can’t go home with him at the end of the series. At the end of the group date, Gerry was unable to eliminate any of the women, saying it was just too hard and he couldn’t face it.
Older Single Women Have Proven They Are Ready to Risk It All For Love on ‘The Golden Bachelor’
71-year-old Ellen was the last to be sent home before the hometown dates and was possibly the most surprising elimination. Like the rest of the ladies, Ellen had declared her love for Gerry several times before the elimination ceremony. Ellen and Gerry seemed to have a lot in common, including their love for pickleball and both being widowed. Ellen shared during confessional that she hadn’t felt this alive in over seven years, since her husband had passed away and couldn’t imagine living without Gerry. When the last woman’s name was called, and it was clear Ellen was going home, she was visibly heartbroken. Gerry asked to walk her out and the two sat on a bench outside with tears in their eyes before Ellen broke the embrace and insisted needing to leave.
For the ladies on The Golden Bachelor the stakes seem so much higher than the other series. For women who have lost their life partner, or have endured a life of bad relationships and have never experienced love, an opportunity to get it right during their sunset years feels even more unlikely and precious. Audiences feel connected and saddened for the twenty and thirty-year-olds who sign up for The Bachelor just to get their hearts broken, but it’s clear most of these beautiful young women will have many more chances to find love and marriage. For women like Ellen with fewer years ahead of them than behind, the possibility of this being a last chance for love is much more real making the stakes that much higher. Critics may have judged Sandra for missing her daughter’s marriage in exchange for a chance at love, but for her, it could’ve represented an opportunity to reclaim a part of her life that she thought was gone forever.
‘The Golden Bachelor’ Proves That Love Is Always Worth Fighting For And Never Loses Value
The women on The Golden Bachelor have proven more authentic than any other season. Yes, we’ve witnessed jealousy, insecurity, and cattiness at an all-time high, but we’ve also learned that the desire to be loved never dulls and quite possibly will never be extinguished as long as we have breath in our bodies. Gerry and his twenty senior citizen-aged bachelorettes have taught us several valuable lessons. Not only does love defy age, but it can fill up with hope every time we sense its possibility, and most of all it’s undeniably worth fighting for no matter what the circumstance.
