By Amber Raiken
Has ABC’s Golden Bachelor broken the ageism myth around finding love later in life? My interview with The Independent UK reveals why this series is pivotal to our full-scope view of romance: #TheBachelor #GoldenBachelor #Ageism #FindingLove
Amber writes, “The famous Bachelor franchise is about to debut a whole new twist – The Golden Bachelor – which will follow a senior’s search to find his perfect match.
On 28 September, viewers will be introduced to the spinoff’s first-ever leading man: A 72-year-old father and grandfather from Indiana, Gerry Turner. To coincide with the theme of the dating show for seniors, all of the bachelor’s potential suitors will be 60 years old and older, unlike previous cast members and leading men, who’ve been in their 20s and 30s.
The significant age gap between new and previous contestants brings something different to the franchise, a new level of maturity in the journey of finding love, according to the program’s host, Jesse Palmer. As a result, The Golden Bachelor has the potential to restructure the franchise for the better, with the hope that older contestants may be able to depict what a mature, happy, and healthy relationship looks like – even amid the expected steamy reality TV drama.
Susan Winter, a relationship expert and the bestselling author of Older Women/Younger Men, suggested the experiences and advanced maturity of the contestants will be beneficial to them when looking for love.
“As we get older, we begin to know who we are, and we know what we want,” she told The Independent. “Gerry and the show’s contestants have already experienced major philosophical changes. They have a consistency and predictability about the platform of their thoughts and behaviour. They have a code of ethics that may not have transferred so well into our current generation.”
She suggested that their past relationships will also be a factor, as they may have been in more long-term, sustainable relationships than their previous, younger cast members.
“They’ve probably had two to three long-term relationships where they’ve had to communicate, negotiate, establish healthy boundaries, and been willing to compromise. They’ve had hard conversations with their previous partners,” Winter explained. “So that longevity factor is skewed towards the positive outcome of getting engaged on the show.”
According to Winter, another thing to keep in mind about these soon-to-be reality stars is that they could be straight shooters. Given the knowledge that they’ve gained from their life experiences, Winter suggested the contestants may not have patience for nonsense, and that they will be able to clearly and positively convey that.
“They are who they are, or they should be able to tell you who they are, what they want, how they roll, and their level of expectations,” she explained. “They know what will tick them off, they know what won’t. That level of self awareness and clarity is really helpful when you’re presenting yourself to a prospective partner.”
If you’re an avid fan of the TV franchise, you may be aware that relationships on The Bachelor haven’t always been built to last. Specifically, only three out of all 27 Bachelor couples are still together, while five out of the 20 Bachelorette couples are still together. Could The Golden Bachelor increase the success rate of finding love within the ABC franchise? Winter hopes so, as she argues viewers could use a little hope.
“You can’t just have an ongoing trauma surrounding your concept of love. We all lose hope,” she said. “Life requires hopefulness. It requires somebody somewhere to get a happy ending, right? We need to hear those stories. It’s a long shot. It’s a risk, but let’s see how the season turns out.”
In addition to, hopefully, showing us examples of positive relationships, she also hopes The Golden Bachelor lessens misconceptions about falling in love beyond a certain age. Winter acknowledged that love can happen within any time period, whether it comes after being single for 10 years at the age of 60, or after splitting up with your spouse of 20 years at the age of 50.
She also suggested that the new series could shine a positive and candid light on the challenges that women face when dating at an older age.
“As women, we keep bumping up against the constant reminder that we’re not young enough, our face is not flawless, our body’s not perfect. And because of that, we aren’t wanted. I think we’re going to see some very interesting conversations about ageing, what it does to a woman’s self esteem, the psychology of ageing, our self-worth,” she said. “It could be brought up in many ways, whether it’s women talking to themselves, to the camera, or to each other about it.””
Continue Reading: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dating/golden-bachelor-gerry-turner-relationships-marriage-b2415304.html