ABC’s The Golden Bachelor made its premiere Thursday night, with 22 contestants vying for the affection of 72-year-old Gerry Turner. Among them was Nancy Hulkower, a retired interior designer from Alexandria, who ended the opening night with a rose.
The series is a spinoff of the long-running reality dating show The Bachelor that features an older bachelor and contestants, proving that it’s never too late to find love. The contestants range in age between 60 to 75.
Turner is a retired restauranteur from Indiana with a passion for pickleball and four-wheeling. His wife, Toni, died in 2017 after the pair had been married since 1974. He has two daughters and two granddaughters.
Hulkower is a 60-year-old mother of three whose interests include golfing, college basketball, and rom-coms, and she’s a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic.
“I believe in love stories. And even having had a great one, I believe I can have another,” she said.
During their introduction, Hulkower teased Turner, saying “I, too, wear some ear candy,” in reference to the hearing aids they both wear.
Other contestants certainly made impressions as well, like Faith, who zipped in on a motorcycle; Theresa, who kissed Turner after showing him her “birthday suit” (which was really a nude-colored bodysuit); and Aunt Chippy, Jimmy Kimmel’s aunt who dozed off through the rose ceremony.
In the end, 16 women received roses and will continue on the show, including Hulkower. Five women — Anna, Maria, Pamela, Renee, Sylvia, and Patty — did not receive roses and will not continue on the show.
The Golden Bachelor airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Feature image courtesy ABC/Craig Sjodin
For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine’s News newsletter.
