The Golden Bachelorseason 1’s Gerry Turner was an excellent lead, but Mark Anderson would be an upgrade on multiple levels. Long before appearing on aBachelorNation show, 57-year-old Mark was a retired widower living a life of relative obscurity in Louisiana. He was married to his beloved late wife, Denise Anderson, in 2018, after 18 years of marriage. Mark spent the next few years raising his five children and helping them grieve the loss of their mother. By all accounts, he didn’t date much and seemed content to spend the rest of his days alone.
Mark made his television debut duringThe Bachelorseason 28, when his daughter, Kelsey Anderson, brought Joey Graziadei home for her hometown date. When Mark was announced as a contestant onThe Golden Bacheloretteseason 1just a few months later, hopes were high that he’d win Joan Vassos' heart. If Joan ends up choosing someone else,producers should cast Mark as the nextGolden Bachelor. Though Gerry was an entertaining lead who helped put the series on the map, there are several reasons why Mark would be an even better choice to leadTheBachelorNation spin-off.
Mark Has A Higher Emotional IQ Than Gerry
Quiet Strength And Judgment
25-year-oldBachelorcontestant Kelseytalked about her father a lot duringThe Bachelorseason 28, so expectations were high, and Mark didn’t disappoint. The Anderson family lived on a military base in Germany while Kelsey was growing up. During one of her dates with Joey, Kelsey admitted she and her father weren’t close when she was growing up because he was always away working. However,they became much closer after her mother died.Now, Kelsey leans on her father and trusts his quiet strength and judgment, and that’s exactly the high emotional IQ Mark would bring toThe Golden Bachelor.
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While 72-year-old Gerry was telegenic and charming, he didn’t always have the best judgment. For example, duringThe Golden Bachelorseason 1, he told 65-year-old Leslie Fhima that she was “the one”, but then gave his final rose to 70-year-old Theresa Nist. His bad judgment continued whenhe rushed into an ill-advised marriage with Theresa. The septuagenarian couple announced their divorce after only three short months of matrimony.
Gerry Was Dishonest
He Misled Everyone About His Past
Gerry’s terrible judgment was on display long beforeThe Golden Bachelorseason 1aired, when he lied to producers about his relationship status. Part of Gerry’s backstory was that he had been single since his late wife, Toni Turner, passed away in 2017, but that turned out to be untrue. It was revealed that not only hadGerry started dating immediately after his wife died, but he had also been in a long-term relationship with a live-in girlfriend.
Making matters worse, the relationship ended badly with Gerry unceremoniously throwing the woman out of his house.
Mark’s high emotional IQ and authenticity were on display when Kelsey and Joey sat down with Mark, and he gifted Kelsey a photo album of her mother’s photographs, sharing a glimpse of his own love story he shared with his late wife. Later, Mark told his daughter, “I want all of you to feel that feeling I had with your mother.” It’shard to imagine Mark engaging in blatant dishonesty, which already sets him head and shoulders above Gerry.
Mark Is Bachelor Nation Royalty
He’s Already A Fan Favorite
While Gerry was an unknown, Mark is different from other contestants onThe Golden Bacheloretteseason 1 contestantsbecause he’s practicallyBachelorNation royalty. Mark’s life changed when he made histelevision debut duringThe Bachelorseason 28 and was catapulted to fan favorite statusamong the show’s devoted fans. When his daughter, Kesley, went on to win Joey’s heart, Mark was by her side the whole time.
SinceThe Bachelorseason 28 came to an end, Kelsey and Joey have become prominent social media influencers, and Mark often appears in Kelsey’s TikToks.
Considering the meteoric success ofThe Golden Bachelorseason 1, chances are there will be a second season of the unscripted dating show that centers around the love lives of older people. Mark has become so popular with the show’s fans that it would practically be media malpractice for producers not to cast him asThe Golden Bachelor.
73 years old
Widowed and divorced
57 years old
The Golden Bachelor
Cast
The Bachelor returns to TV with The Golden Bachelor, a romantic reality competition series created for ABC. The show will focus on an older generation of hopefuls, with one senior male hoping to court and win the heart of one of several older female contestants.
