Everything ‘The Golden Bachelor’ Has Revealed About Fantasy Suites

We're all adults here — especially in the case of The Golden Bachelor. While fans have certainly been over the moon about the Bachelor spin-off, which follows 72-year-old widower Gerry Turner as he searches for love, there's been one question lingering in the air: Will the new series follow the exact format of the original?

Fans of the show will remember that, when the lead narrows the contestants down to their top three, the subsequent episode is typically known as "Fantasy Suite" week, in which dates are extended overnight — without cameras involved. And, according to the Golden Bachelor himself, the same will happen for him — with a twist.

"What [Fantasy Suites] would look like might be a little different," he explained during a segment on Charity Lawson's Men Tell All special. "That's a long way down the journey. And I think there's a lot of steps that I and a potential partner would need to go through to get to that to make it a comfortable situation."

But now, the show is heading into the much-talked-about fantasy suites, as Turner is down to his final two women, Theresa Nist and Leslie Fhima. In a preview for this week's episode — in which the group travels to Costa Rica — Turner explains how it would all go down, saying, "People want to know what happens in these fantasy suites. I really love the idea of pillow talk, but yeah, people my age still knock boots!"

And that isn't the only segment of the tried-and-true Bachelor formula that's gotten a refresh. Rob Mills, ABC’s top unscripted executive, told Variety in 2020 that hometown dates — which typically happen when there are four contestants left — would consist of meeting the children, instead of the parents. That episode, which aired two weeks ago, saw frontrunner Faith Martin head home amidst an intense rose ceremony.

"It’s everything you love about The Bachelor, but everybody loves senior citizens because they have different love stories to talk about," Mills said at the time.

Turner began with 22 senior women, and has whittled it down to just two. Now, rumors have started flying about if a Golden Bachelorette is happening — and who could be the lead. Martin, Susan Noles, Ellen Goltzer and Joan Vassos have all emerged as strong candidates, but only time will tell who could nab the coveted spot.

The Golden Bachelor premieres on Sept. 28 at 8/7c on ABC.