The Bachelor has, for 27 seasons (plus 20 more of The Bachelorette) maintained a consistent formula: an eminently eligible single courts contestants in their 20s and 30s with storybook intentions, ginned-up drama and, more recently, a Christian overtone. The participants are all wrinkle-free, buffed and energetically scampering the steps to heteronormative bliss – first date, first kiss, follow-up destination date, hometown visit, engagement. (And then supposedly marriage and children, though that almost never happens.)
The Bachelor is a conservative behemoth in a crowded dating show field that has a common demographic: young people, usually telegenic and attractive, looking for anything from sex (Too Hot to Handle, Love Island) to companionship (Love is Blind, Are You the One?) to fame (all of the above). The Golden Bachelor, the ABC franchise’s latest spinoff, thus offers a too-rare opportunity. The new bachelor, Gerry Turner, is, naturally, sun-kissed and handsome, with ice-blue eyes and a crinkly smile. He’s also 71 years old, a widower courting women aged 60 to 75 who mostly look the part (though there are a lot of blonde highlights).
