Back in March 2002, a reality TV show called The Bachelor was introduced and little did anyone know that it would evolve into a reality TV powerhouse that would lead to various spin-offs. The original series has run for twenty-seven seasons, and with the twenty-eighth season set to start soon, and fans have also been able to watch twenty seasons of The Bachelorette and nine seasons of Bachelor in Paradise. The appeal of the show lies in its blend of intense emotions, human connections, setbacks, and the triumph of love.
Fast forward twenty years, the show’s producers finally decided to create a spin-off for a segment of the audience eager for romance: seniors. The Golden Bachelor premiered in September and featured Gerry Turner, seventy-two, a widower from Indiana. His journey to find love involved meeting twenty-two women between the ages of sixty and seventy-five. In a heartwarming finale, Turner proposed to seventy-year-old Theresa Nist, and their wedding will be aired as a live special called The Golden Wedding on Jan. 4 on ABC.
“When you are younger, you are more concerned with family expectations and who will be a good partner as you build a career,” Gerry Turner, 72, tells Esquire. “When you are older, it is more about values and character and how someone makes you feel.’”
Florence Sullivan
The launch of The Golden Bachelor—alongside its impressive viewership—is a long overdue acknowledgement by the TV industry of a growing trend. An average of 10,000 Americans are turning sixty-five each day, and a significant proportion of them are single. By 2030, the number of Americans over the age of sixty-five will exceed those under eighteen, and they are not willing to give up on love.
The show received nearly 30,000 applications to participate, drew in over 7.13 million viewers, making it the highest rating series in the Bachelor franchise since March 2020. After seven days of linear and streaming viewing, the audience for the finale grew to 9.42 million viewers.
The Golden Bachelor highlighted the fact that people desire romance, love, and intimacy regardless of their age. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 46.4 percent of all adults are single, which translates to 117 million potential partners. According to the Pew Research Center, forty-nine percent of single adults are looking to date, with the percentage rising to fifty-five percent for men over forty.
“So many people have told me that I have given them hope,” Theresa Nist, 70, says.
Florence Sullivan
Some dating sites targeting people over fifty, like Zoosk, are becoming increasingly popular.