feliceI was blown away by the first episode of the Golden Bachelor. It was beyond my expectations.
Just to be clear, I don’t watch the regular Bachelor at all as I can’t relate to these young girls dressing up to impress a guy and win him over for marriage – I never loved the concept of women trying to win over a guy with their looks and canned antics. Please Bachelor fans – don’t delete me yet.
What’s different about “THAT” Bachelor and “THIS” one — is those women are young and have plenty of options if they don’t get picked given their age. We know that if they don’t land “The” Bachelor – they will have plenty of other Bachelors to date.
But This 72 year old Bachelor Gerry is unique. Gerry’s emotional telling of his loving marriage of over 40 years and sudden loss of his beloved wife really got to me.
Now 6 years later he is ready for a relationship.
He is sincere, handsome and kind. He knows time matters and how precious life is. And, he appreciates without judgement each of the 22 contenders that he meets.
Being older, being lonely, having a little bloom off the rose rather than in the prime of their lives leaves each and everyone vulnerable.
And because of this vulnerability, wrinkles, looser skin, failed marriages and losses mixed with the elixir of desire for sex, for intimacy, for connection as perhaps a last chance, makes us care about all of them.
At least that’s how I felt. I cared and watched each woman work their angle with humor and honesty that made me wish for their success. Of course some of the women are way more likable than others – but that’s not the point. The point is they chose to be in the game because they still can and I say—- YOU GO LADIES!
This story warms my heart. The women are hilarious – heart felt and honest. Widowed, divorced, or never married, all have a zest for life and a unique character that make them fun.
As each woman revealed something about why they were alone and wanting a partner, you couldn’t help but care. The tenderness and vulnerability are refreshing.
One woman flashed her birthday outfit, one arrived on a motorcycle, one is a therapist with the most understanding eyes. There were many grandmas. All the women look their age with some augmentation, some too much botox or fillers but you look at them all and say – aging is the great equalizer. We are doing our best to look our best and we will do what it takes to stay in the game of life on our terms.
Hats off to the producers of this show — How the hell they got this so right renews my faith in the industry a tad. Frankly I never watch reality TV – but this could be the beginning of an obsession for me.
I plan to watch this show the whole way through and I already am betting on one of the women to be Gerry’s choice.
Have you seen the show? What do you think? Love to hear your comments.