The producers want more when it comes to the Golden Bachelor franchise.
“Nothing would make us happier … stay tuned,” executive producer and showrunner Bennett Graebner said about a potential Golden Bachelorette spinoff during a Producers Guild FYC panel on Monday, December 11.
Graebner was joined by colleagues Claire Freeland and Jason Ehrlich on the panel and they echoed similar sentiments. The golden couple themselves, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist, were also on stage for the conversation.
“I’m here for Golden Paradise,” Freeland quipped, to which Graebner responded, “We’re ready for it.”
When discussing the idea of a new version of The Bachelorette, the audience shouted out suggestions for who would make a good lead. The crowd voiced their support for Leslie Fhima, Faith Martin, Ellen Goltzer, Joan Vassos and Sandra Masson, who all competed for Turner’s affection during season 1.
The inaugural season of Golden Bachelor premiered in September and viewers fell in love with Turner, 72, instantly. The leading man ultimately picked Nist, 70, over Fhima, 64, during the finale, despite falling in love with both women.
While the show was an immediate success, the producers confessed they didn’t know how the public were going to respond but were hopeful the message would resonate.
“Normalize dating at any age, being desirable at any age, still having urges and being a sexual creature at any age,” Freeland said in the panel. “[It] is something I think that we should be listening to and why it’s a big part of why it’s so successful and people are really responding to it.”
Freeland noted she thought the show’s concept was “brilliant” and she’s hopeful to see “more people of this age in mainstream media.”
In November, Turner shared his support for a Golden Bachelorette and thought any of his former contestants would be a great match.
“I absolutely do hope that is something that happens,” Turner told E! News at the time. “But there’s no way I could recommend one out of those 22 women that would be better than any of the others. They’d all be wonderful candidates for it.”
While viewers still have to wait on an official announcement if Golden Bachelorette or Paradise is in the works, ABC is going to broadcast Turner and Nist’s upcoming nuptials early next year. The special, The Golden Wedding, will air on January 4. The pair opened up about their decision to wed quickly following the November finale.
“We’re old! Think about it this way: You can wait a year in your 20s because that might be 3 percent of your remaining life,” Turner explained on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast in November. “When you’re in your 70s, a year could be 10 percent or 20 percent of the time you have left.”
