How a Messy Ending Cemented ‘The Golden Bachelor’ as the Best New Reality TV Show of 2023

Before Zoom meetings and classes, before masking up on the bus, before the general public learned the meaning of terms like Paxlovid and Ivermectin, there was The Golden Bachelor. The new reality show that had all of America talking — and that isn't even a classic Jesse Palmer exaggeration — recently wrapped its inaugural season, with Gerry Turner picking Theresa Nist as his future bride. But its early beginnings came even before the COVID-19 pandemic. During "Pilot Pete" Peter Weber's early 2020 season of The Bachelor, viewers were first greeted with casting calls for seniors looking for love; the advertisements continued throughout the franchise's subsequent seasons, many of which shirked the series' typical international travel, opting for various American resorts to avoid possible COVID exposures. When in the world would production be able to gather 20+ septuagenarians safely, without risking their lives in a pandemic?

Finally, more than three years later, The Golden Bachelor arrived this fall. Left with an empty schedule thanks to dual writers' and actors' strikes, ABC slotted Golden in a primetime spot on Thursdays (even airing it ahead of the ever-popular Bachelor in Paradise), and, suddenly, 72-year-old Gerry Turner was everywhere you saw. The retired restaurant owner received glowing profiles in publications like Esquire, New York Magazine and Glamour; each Friday morning, TikToks discussing his hopefuls' pickleball techniques, and dramatic backstories populated FYPs everywhere. The series was the the top show this season with women 18 to 34, and Turner and ABC were praised for popularizing "gentler reality TV," similar to Channel 4's Great British Baking Show. The drama was minimal. The ladies weren't out to become influencers. But, with raised stakes, the heartaches were even bigger.

Of course, then came the inevitable backlash. The day before the highly anticipated season finale, The Hollywood Reporter dropped a bombshell exposé, accusing Turner of lying about his romantic past and breaking up with his ex after she gained 10 pounds. (When asked about the claims by Katie Couric, Turner said, "That's kind of the funny thing about that article. There's just enough truth in it, but the reality is it's not of concern to me now. I have so many positives to think about that I haven't really given that article a whole lot of thought.")

And then, in the finale, the other shoe officially dropped — after saying "I love you" to more than one woman, Turner broke the heart of Leslie Fhima, a 64-year-old fitness instructor, who didn't take the break-up lightly. "I can think whatever the f— I want right now," she said during the emotional split. "My heart's broken once again, but now I have to do it in front of the world, and see once again how broken I am, how no one chooses me."

Fhima's comments were soon flooded with supporters, rooting for the Minnesota native to become the franchise's first Golden Bachelorette and casting aspersions upon Turner and his new fiancée, Nist. After two months of near-universal support, Turner suffered the same fate of Bachelors past. By dating 22 women, Turner left 21 of them ended hurt; meanwhile, the Golden Bachelor himself didn't help things when he threw caution to the wind, telling Fhima she was "the one," not to mention saying "I love you" to divorcée Faith Martin in front of her children. When Palmer announced that Nist and Turner would be married in a live ceremony in January, the Brooklyn bar where I was viewing the finale erupted in groans.

But, as is typical in Bachelor world, The Golden Bachelor was never about the titular character; rather, it was about the 22 women he dated. Each episode, viewers were sometimes delighted, sometimes brought to tears with stories of fallen friends, struggling families and explosive recipes. The ladies have become a tight-knit squad of 70-year-olds — hanging out far after filming wrapped and putting even the chicest NYC influencers to shame. They became so adored by the public that even the golden girl of all golden girls, Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner, showed her support during the Women Tell All. A Golden Bachelorette hasn't been announced yet, but fans (like yours truly) are already eagerly speculating about who is most deserving among multiple fan favorites.

No one can deny that The Golden Bachelor was the reality show that took over the fall — and the entire year. While 2023 was categorized by similar reality spinoffs (The Ultimatum: Queer Love, Love Island Games and Squid Game: The Challenge being three of the most enjoyable and successful), The Golden Bachelor was a breath of fresh air, bringing us an entirely new (old) generation of women to fawn over. It spawned thinkpiece after thinkpiece, with AARP hailing it as a series that "changed TV" for boomers everywhere. That messy ending only solidified that Golden was the name on everyone's lips. Now, if only executives will listen to my DMs for a Golden Bachelor in Paradise.

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