After giving fans of The Bachelor franchise two months of pure bliss, the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor will finally come to a close tonight (November 30), and our fingers are crossed that Gerry Turner finds his happily ever after!
Losing his wife and high school sweetheart to illness after being married for 43 years, Gerry embarked on his second chance (or maybe his third chance?) at finding love as the lead of the first-ever season of The Golden Bachelor, coining the phrase, “It’s never too late to fall in love again” — how sweet is that?
Narrowing down the eligible bachelorettes to just two individuals, Leslie Fhima and Theresa Nist (with one of them receiving his final rose during the highly-anticipated finale), Gerry was forced to let dozens of women go as the season progressed, such as stunners like Susan Noles, Sandra Mason, Faith Martin, and more. Out of all of the ousted contestants, one woman’s goodbye was arguably the most gut-wrenching of them all, which was with the one and only Ellen Goltzer.
From going on a magical hot air balloon ride during their one-on-one date in episode 3 (as well as receiving a stunning Michael Costello dress, shoes, and earrings) to telling the Golden Bachelor that she was falling in love with him in episode 4, things seemed to be smooth sailing between the Gerry and Ellen. Unfortunately, things took a turn when the former realized that his connections with some of the other women were much stronger than with the latter, ultimately sending her home in episode 5.
After her devastating departure, fans of The Bachelor franchise have advocated for Ellen to become the lead of The Golden Bachelorette, a spin-off series that viewers have been begging to come to fruition.
Fortunately, the producers are not opposed to the idea, with one of said producers, Jason Ehrlich, spilling the tea in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“We’re really hopeful that this continues to expand. People are really liking the stories that we’re telling, and so I’m really interested to see. It will be different. It will be almost like doing it for the first time all over again with The Golden Bachelorette. What is it going to be like with 20-some older men living in the Bachelor mansion? We don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it will be different and interesting, and that’s what makes me want to watch.”
Similarly, Ellen has also expressed that she would be interested in being the Golden Bachelorette with E! News, sharing that she would love to represent the elderly community and keep the senior citizen versions of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette going — how exciting is that?
Lucky for Ellen Goltzer lovers like us, a post shared to her Instagram profile yesterday (November 29) might have hinted at her becoming the leading lady of The Golden Bachelorette sooner than you might think…
In said post, Ellen Goltzer shared a cheeky selfie with Rachel Stern, a producer at Entertainment Tonight, all while simultaneously announcing that she is flying to LAX, the airport in Los Angeles.
“What a great surprise!! I ran into Rachel, an amazing producer with ET at the airport on our way to LAX. It was no nice chatting with you! 🌹”
Los Angeles is where the “After The Final Rose” segment of The Golden Bachelor will air live from, and it is also where the next lead is typically announced. Remember when Joey Graziadei was announced as the next Bachelor during the “After The Final Rose” segment of The Bachelorette earlier this year?
Based on this post shared to her Instagram profile, it looks like Ellen will definitely be in Los Angeles this evening, but will she be taking the stage to be announced as the Golden Bachelorette?
To find out for yourself, catch the finale of The Golden Bachelor tonight (November 30) from 8pm ET/PT to 10pm ET/PT on ABC.