‘The Golden Bachelorette’ Is a Go at ABC

Ryan Gajewski
·2 min read
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The Golden Bachelorette is ready to bloom as ABC launches the latest spinoff in its long-running dating franchise.

At the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour on Saturday, the network announced that the new series will launch this fall following the success of the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor, which aired the finale of its Gerry Turner-led run in November. Turner and show pick Theresa Nist tied the knot in a lavish wedding ceremony that aired live on ABC last month.

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Additionally, the network announced Saturday that The Bachelorette has been renewed for its 21st season, which is scheduled to air in the summer. Cast details for both series are set to be revealed at a later date. The ABC reality panel also made headlines when the producers didn’t respond to questions about the franchise’s diversity woes.

Executive producers for The Golden Bachelorette are Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich, Bennett Graebner and Andrew Frank. Freeland, Ehlich, Graebner, Tim Warner, Peter Gust, Jodi Baskerville and Jeff Thomas serve as executive producers for The Bachelorette.

Casting for Golden Bachelorette “will be different; it will be almost like doing it for the first time all over again,” Ehrlich had told The Hollywood Reporter, when eying the expansion. “What is it going to be like with 20-some older men living in the Bachelor Mansion? We don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it will be different and interesting. And that’s what makes me want to watch.”

The Golden Bachelorette is the latest spinoff from the franchise that has also spawned Bachelor in Paradise, which wrapped up its ninth season in December. Joey Graziadei is currently starring on season 28 of The Bachelor after he was Charity Lawson’s runner-up on The Bachelorette last year.

Golden Bachelor was ABC’s second-most-watched fall show in Nielsen’s seven-day ratings, right behind Dancing With the Stars. Turner’s finale marked the franchise’s best-performing installment since the 2021 finale of The Bachelor with lead Matt James.

While a star has yet to be announced for The Golden Bachelorette, there are a number of standouts from Turner’s season who have become fan favorites for the gig. This includes Leslie Fhima, a 65-year-old fitness instructor from Golden Valley, Minnesota, who was Turner’s runner-up and left heartbroken when he ended their relationship to propose to Nist in Costa Rica.

The day before the Golden Bachelor finale aired, The Hollywood Reporter published a piece that questioned the show’s narrative of Turner as a widower who hadn’t dated since before he was married. In the piece, a woman identified herself as Turner’s ex-girlfriend and said they started dating a month after his wife passed away, leading to a relationship lasting more than two years.

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