Maybe I Was Wrong About The Golden Bachelor Franchise All This Time

There’s also the varied geographical location that poses a significant barrier. While the spin-offs have left viewers in tears and warm feelings in their hearts, practically speaking, the show causes turmoil in the lives of respectable elders whose past mistakes and personal lives are put on display. All things considered, the contestants on the senior spin-off have the pre-existing odds not working in their favor, topped with the lack of flexibility in making drastic changes to the lives they’ve built over decades once there's finally a knotted couple.

Geographical Barriers Are a Major Loophole

In an interview with Glamour this past October, The Golden Bachelorette Season 1 contestant Pascal Ibgui said it best when he remarked how it doesn’t make sense for the show to bring eligible singles from across the country and expect them to uproot their lives if they manage to find love on the show. The salon owner believes that the franchise should consider modifying its format to accommodate the full-fledged lives, families, and businesses that the contestants on the senior spin-off can’t turn a blind eye to. The reality TV star also took a moment to draw parallels, pointing out that there is still some wiggle room regarding geographical relocation when it comes to The Bachelor and The Bachelorette since contestants are much younger and can entertain the idea.

As someone who travels a lot and gets a sold grasp of the toll this can take on relationships from a baseline, I believe these geographical barriers are a genuine factor that simply cannot be ignored, considering the fact that distance was a primary reason why The Golden Bachelor Season 1 couple Nist and Turner called time out on their relationship, with the latter filing for divorce just three months after tying the knot. For a moment, it also felt as if the latest senior couple from Bachelor Nation — Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple — were also in for similar issues, as the two of them had to choose New York as a middle ground and find an apartment there. However, thankfully and luckily, the two of them have been able to make it work and found an apartment recently! In the November 5, 2024, episode of The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast, Nist expressed how Turner had suggested that they split their time between their respective houses every six weeks instead of their initial plan of looking for a home together near Charleston, South Carolina, and therefore, that's a fear that we're always going to have with the senior Bachelor spinoffs.

Digging up Senior Contestants’ Pasts Is Distasteful

We all know that Bachelor Nation turns FBI whenever the franchise releases a new season, so it’s no surprise that the senior spin-off contestants weren’t shown any mercy. On September 19, 2024, court documents exclusively obtained by PEOPLE revealed that a contestant on The Golden Bachelorette, Gil Ramirez, was previously hit with a temporary restraining order by an ex-girlfriend, citing “harassment — emotional.” Uncovering the restraining order led to Ramirez’s screen time being edited on the show.

In October 2024, when The Golden Bachelorette was airing, a top contender at the time — and eventual runner-up — Guy Gansert’s past restraining order by his wife, Heidi O’Gara, was brought to light by PEOPLE. While Gansert, the epitome of green flags on the show, was quick to clear up any speculation regarding the restraining order in an Instagram post this past October, his image was significantly tainted, and the damage was done. Viewers tend to forget that contestants on the senior spin-off come on the show with a lot of history. Selecting a person who has spent 40 to 50 years of their life rarely thinking about ever becoming a part of reality TV, only to become one, without fully knowing what they're going to be exposed to, and ending up exposed in public with past details that sound spicy without context, can be emotionally taxing.

The Golden Spin-Off’s Should Be One-Season Wonders

The debut seasons of The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bachelorette were palate cleansers that gave fans an insight into how it’s never too late to find love. While the intent was refreshing and the episodes were wholesome, in hindsight, it bodes well for the franchise to pull the plug on the senior spin-offs after just one season. Typically, the numbers are less than favorable when looking back at the couples from The Bachelor franchise who’ve successfully stayed together — with Chock Chapple and Joan Vassos being a rare exception.

Moreover, there’s also a likelihood that their reputations will be tarnished by being in the reality TV spotlight, because everyone has a past. So even though I thoroughly enjoyed tuning into The Golden spin-offs, the cons outweigh the pros regarding contestant well-being and feasibility, which is why The Bachelor franchise should not invest in another season of The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bachelorette.

While there is no official release date or announcement, the Bachelor Nation website recently put out a casting call for women wanting to become contestants in The Golden Bachelor Season 2. In the meantime, you can stream all the episodes of The Golden Bachelor on Hulu. Watch on Hulu