Former Golden Bachelorette contestant Jordan Heller is opening up about his relationship with girlfriend Emily Rooney— and how he broke the news of their 23-year age gap to his kids.
“If it was ever going to get serious, my kids would have to buy in. There’s no question about it, I’m really involved with my girls,” Jordan, 63, said on the Thursday, August 27, episode of iHeartRadio’s “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast.
Bachelor Nation met Jordan when he vied for the affections of Joan Vassos on 2024’s season 1 of The Golden Bachelorette. Jordan later met Emily in Chicago and the pair have been dating for nearly two years.
“They met Emily a few days into our relationship,” he said. “We were at a bar for Thanksgiving and we were all just having a good time. And then it was just kind of loose and like, ‘Here’s this woman I met, she’s gonna hang out with us.’”
Jordan continued, “Then it more evolved into, ‘Is she going to be a part of our family?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know. We’re just dating, we’re having a good time.’ But my girls are either kind of — they’re almost either they-love-you-or-they-hate-you kind of thing. And they’re very protective of me.”
Jordan shared that if his kids “smelled anything nefarious about Emily, 40, they “would’ve sniffed it out.”
“And they would not have been shy about telling me they’re not into her: ‘Dad this is not going to work.’ But it’s been great,” he said. “They’ve totally bought into it. I would say [Emily is] close with the girls.”
Emily, who is just six years older than Jordan’s eldest daughter, shared that she “could cry” thinking about her bond with his girls.
“They’re so great,” she said. “It wouldn’t work out if I didn’t get along with them, but we have our own relationships.”
Emily shared that one of Jordan’s daughters is tying the knot later this year and has let her “be a part of a lot of things for the wedding,” which she called “really special.” From Emily’s perspective, her family has been equally supportive of Jordan.
“Same with my family buying in with him,” she said. “So, I feel like there’s a lot of things that could have prevented us from being with each other with our families not approving. But they do, so I feel really thankful for that.”
