At this point, it's pretty much expected [1] that we'll see ads during The Bachelor [2] advertising casting calls for the next editions of the show. This week, however, the brief casting call commercial was something we were definitely not expecting: a casting call for seniors. Is The Bachelor [3] seriously going to do a "senior" edition? Here's what we do — and don't — know.
During Monday night's episode, the usual casting call aired during a commercial break, but with a twist: asking for "seniors looking for love." Going to the website listed on screen takes you to the usual Bachelor casting page [4], but now with a new addition: a section at the bottom labeled "New Senior Dating Show," with the instructions, "To nominate someone else or apply online for our newest show casting singles in their golden years, click on the link below to fill out our online submission form."
The form itself [5] includes the standard Bachelor questionnaire, with very little information about the details of the show — not even a show title, just "Senior Dating Show." The casting call reads, "From the Producers of The Bachelor [6]: Now Casting Seniors Looking for Love. Are you entering your golden years and looking for romance? The producers of The Bachelor are looking for active and outgoing single men and women in their golden years for an exciting new dating show!"
At this point, senior citizens are just one of many major demographics that The Bachelor hasn't explored (another being LGBTQ+ romance [7], aside from one relationship [8] on Bachelor in Paradise [9]). Plus, there have been plenty of complaints [10] in recent seasons about the relative youth and immaturity of contestants [11] on the main franchise. Looking at it like that, it's not too surprising that the producers [12] might want to tap into that potentially under-utilised demographic. After all, there are plenty of dating and romance reality shows, but none for anyone who's out of their thirties, so this could definitely fill a gap in the market. The Bachelor team hasn't released any information aside from the casting notice, so we'll definitely be keeping an eye on this development!