The search for Australia’s next Golden Bachelor has apparently turned up two clear frontrunners, but their rumoured dating histories might just throw a spanner in the works.
ICYMI, Channel 9 aired the finale episode of its inaugural Golden Bachelor season last month, with Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden running off into the sunset with winner Sunny Long.
Now, all eyes have turned to who will be the next Bachie on the recently confirmed second season, which is currently casting and in production ahead of a prospective 2026 release.
The (producer-led) quest for love has supposedly landed Channel 9 with two key contenders for season two, namely Neil McIntosh and Craig Trinder, according to the Daily Mail.
If those names sound familiar, it might be because Neil has already done the reality TV dating rounds with as a castmate on season one of My Mum, Your Dad back in 2022.
Craig, meanwhile, is a sports commentator based in the Gold Coast, who was in contention for this year’s Golden Bachie before Barry swooped in at the eleventh hour.
“Neil and Craig are absolutely in the mix,” a source told the Daily Mail, adding that Neil — a fan-favourite from My Mum, Your Dad — is “charming, grounded, and husband material”.
While both frontrunners appear to check all the boxes, there is a slight catch in that both of them have apparently been romantically linked to reject contestants from Barry’s season of The Golden Bachelor.
For his part, Craig has been linked to radio personality Bianca Dye, who vied for Barry’s heart on The Golden Bachelor this year, while Neil has apparently grown close to fellow standout bachelorette Catherine Kirwan.
The reports remain unconfirmed, but the insider claimed that Craig and Neil’s dating histories, including with those from within the Bachie universe, have caught the attention of Channel 9’s producers.
“The Golden Bachelor world is small. Very small. We’re hoping these boys are still single”, the source said, adding that an “ex pop[ping] up during filming [would be a] nightmare”.
The same is apparently true of the casting process more broadly, since all the Golden Bachelor contenders have “dated someone who knows someone who dated someone else”, according to the insider.
“It’s like musical chairs for fifty-something romantics,” they said. In this scenario, I’m guessing the round of musical chairs is soundtracked by ABBA?
Despite the rumoured love triangle (rectangle? rhombus?), Neil and Craig are still considered frontrunners for the next season. “They’re handsome, charming, emotionally intelligent and genuinely lovely blokes,” the insider claimed.
“Any woman in Australia would be lucky to date them… we just need to make sure they’re not already taken.”
It’s worth reiterating that reports of Neil and Craig’s frontrunner status remain unconfirmed, and Channel 9 has not yet revealed any details about who’ll front the cast of the next season beyond a casting call on their website.
As it stands, we only know for sure that a second season is officially coming, and that it’ll hopefully hit screens sometime next year.
So for now, we’ll just have to wait and see who’ll brace for hay fever with a handful of roses as more details of The Golden Bachelor‘s second season emerge.
In the meantime, we can still feel the vicarious love of Barry and Sunny’s ongoing romance!
Lead images: Channel 9 and Instagram
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