ABC has revealed whether its previously-announced senior edition of The Bachelor, which was first mentioned over two years ago, is actually still going to happen.
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However, ABC executive Robert Mills is assuring fans that the long-mentioned spinoff is still in the works.
"The senior citizens show is definitely going to happen at some point," Mills told Variety in a recent interview.
"The response to that is so massive every time we put up a casting call, so I think it's definitely coming sooner rather than later."
Mills added, "For us, we really feel a responsibility to find the right person to be that senior Bachelor. So, we're looking. COVID obviously put a major wrinkle in everything, but we are really looking back in earnest at it."
Many Bachelor Nation fans have been rooting for Gabby Windey's beloved and supportive grandfather to star as the senior Bachelor.
Gabby's grandpa came across witty, warm-hearted and a hopeless romantic during Clayton Echard's The Bachelor season, which wrapped on ABC in March.
"I would be crazy to say that we didn't notice all the affection and interest in Gabby's grandfather, so you never know," Mills said.
"Everyone wants to see him find love. Gabby's grandfather really gave the thesis of what that show should be, which is that he found that great love -- we saw that he still wears the ring, so by the way, he might not be ready for something like this -- and then, there is the question of having one great love in your lifetime, but can you have another?"
Mills called that idea "really interesting" and "not something" producers usually get to explore on The Bachelor franchise.
"Or, finding someone who has never been in love," Mills suggested. "That would be interesting, too. If we can find the person and the story that allows us to answer that, that's when we'll do it."
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Mills concluded that "Senior Bachelor" is "really high on" producers' list.
But fans have also been wondering whether Bachelor Pad, which was essentially replaced by Bachelor in Paradise, will ever return. Many viewers liked the show's competitive element.
"At the very least, we do have conversations about it when we hear people say how much they miss Bachelor Pad," Mills admitted. "The question would be, can you make a version that feels separate and can live on its own from Bachelor in Paradise?"
He reasoned that when it comes to spinoffs, "it's always about finding something that can exist on its own so it doesn't feel like overkill."
A casting notice for the seniors project had originally appeared online in January 2020, disclosing that "producers of The Bachelor" were looking for single men and women age 65 or older.
However, the casting notice didn't reveal what network was attached to the show or whether it would be an actual spin off of The Bachelor franchise.
And then a commercial break that aired during Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor in February 2020 featured former The Bachelor host Chris Harrison saying in a voiceover, "Looking for love in your golden years?
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Upon visiting the show's casting page at the time, producers called the "exciting" new project a "new dating show for seniors" and were looking for older "active and outgoing single men and women" who were looking "for a committed relationship."
The Bachelor and all of its spinoffs are produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television and created by Mike Fleiss.
After the episode of Peter's season aired, ABC reality chief Robert Mills tweeted, "#Bachelornation give us your Grumpiest Old Men, give us your Goldenest Girls. #TheBachelor.
"To be clear," he added, "this is [age] 65 [and up]."
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In addition to The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, ABC also aired The Bachelor Winter Games in 2018 and The Bachelor: Listen To Your Heart in Spring 2020.
In 2018, ABC and The Bachelor producers also attempted The Proposal, a 10-episode reality series which wasn't officially considered a Bachelor spinoff but essentially condensed an entire The Bachelor season into each episode.
The series was hosted by Jesse Palmer, who now hosts The Bachelor franchise.
Each episode of The Proposal featured 10 suitors competing in four pageant-style rounds to win the heart of a bachelor or bachelorette who was concealed from them.
Once the field was narrowed to two suitors, The Proposal lead finally showed him or herself to the contestants and had to decide which person to propose marriage to.
ABC did not renew The Proposal for a second season and the series did not return in 2019.
The new senior citizen project also wouldn't mark the first time The Bachelor producers have attempted to apply The Bachelor's format to a different demographic pool of participants.
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The Cougar featured a 40-year-old woman -- the "cougar" -- choosing a boyfriend from a group of 20-something men and was hosted by actress Vivica A. Fox.
The show even filmed at a mansion that looked similar to the famed The Bachelor mansion in Malibu, CA.
TV Land did not renew The Cougar for a second season.
Fleiss also executive produced More to Love, a dating series that starred a plus-size bachelor attempting to woo plus-size bachelorettes. The series aired on Fox in 2009.
Former Fox reality chief Mike Darnell billed More to Love as the "first dating competition show in television history that reflects what most real single men and women look like, which makes it instantly relatable to the vast majority of people in the dating pool."
NBC's reality show history also includes a couple of attempts to create a reality dating show featuring older participants.
In 2003, NBC aired Who Wants to Marry My Dad?, which ended with 48-year-old Don Mueller proposing to 40-year-old Christena Ferran.
Who Wants to Marry My Dad? was renewed for a second edition which aired on NBC in 2004 and concluded with 47-year-old Marty Okland getting engaged to 39-year-old Stacy Leutner.
In 2007, NBC also aired Age of Love, a reality dating show that starred Mark Philippoussis, a 31-year-old professional tennis player from Melbourne, Australia.
However unbeknownst to Philippoussis, his group of 13 women ranged in age from 21- to 48-years-old.
Age of Love ended with Philippoussis selecting a 25-year-old and was not renewed by NBC.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
