Love is in the air again on ABC as the fall season brings with it not one, but two amazing new seasons of Bachelor Nation franchise originals including the debut of The Golden Bachelor!
After teasing the arrival of the series for what has felt like forever, ABC is finally bringing fans its long-in-the-works senior edition of The Bachelor which looks to give 72-year-old Gerry Turner a second chance at love. Joining him will be a group of 22 amazing women who are also looking for that special someone to spend their golden years with.
When the show was first announced, there was a lot of curiosity regarding the exact age range ABC might be looking to cast. In the end, the show ended up going with an older age range for its lead and his cast than many had expected as there was a lot of speculation over whether ABC might look to find contestants closer to their 50s than their 70s.
This is a far departure from the show’s typical age demographic as most of the leads of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette tend to be in their 20s to 30s, but one that is more than welcome among fans. That said, it’s a departure from the norm that many are excited about as the show promises to give us the chance to see a more mature Bachelor and an overall more wholesome series.
The Golden Bachelor cast ages explained
Of course, once we knew Gerry Turner was cast as The Golden Bachelor lead, many were eager to know how ABC would approach casting for the show. There was an initial fear the show might cast far younger women, but fortunately, the casting department ended up casting women close in age to Gerry with the biggest age divide being 12 years Gerry’s junior:
- April: 65 years old
- Anna: 61 years old
- Christina: 73 years old
- Edith: 60 years old
- Ellen: 71 years old
- Faith: 60 years old
- Jeanie: 65 years old
- Joan: 60 years old
- Kathy: 70 years old
- Leslie: 64 years old
- Maria: 60 years old
- Marina: 60 years old
- Nancy: 60 years old
- Natascha: 60 years old
- Pamela: 75 years old
- Patty: 70 years old
- Peggy: 69 years old
- Renee: 67 years old
- Sandra: 75 years old
- Susan: 66 years old
- Sylvia: 64 years old
- Theresa: 70 years old
Looking at the cast, there are only three women who are older than Gerry, with the rest of the cast being anywhere from one to twelve years younger than Gerry. Considering Gerry and his late wife were only a few months apart in age, it’s going to be interesting to see if Gerry gravitates toward a contestant closer to his age or if he might find love with someone a bit younger.
In terms of the most represented ages for the season, there are a total of seven women who are 60 years old and three women who are 70 years old. Meanwhile, the average age for a contestant this season of The Golden Bachelor is 67 years old:
- 60 year old: Edith, Faith, Joan, Maria, Marina, Nancy, Natascha
- 61 years old: Anna
- 64 years old: Leslie, Sylvia
- 65 years old: April, Jeanie
- 66 years old: Susan
- 67 years old: Renee
- 69 years old: Peggy
- 70 years old: Kathy, Patty, Theresa
- 71 years old: Ellen
- 73 years old: Christina
- 75 years old: Pamela, Sandra
The Golden Bachelor airs on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.