Pascal Ibgui has insisted The Golden Bachelor franchise won't succeed in cultivating long-lasting relationships unless producers change the format.
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Pascal, who quit Joan Vassos' The Golden Bachelorette season in third place, has pitched the idea of The Golden Bachelor franchise stealing a page out of The Real Housewives and the Married at First Sight playbook.
Pascal told the magazine that he believes a group of bachelors or bachelorettes should be cast from the same region, which would result in The Golden Bachelor franchise having a central filming location every season.
"They should do The Golden Bachelor of Chicago, The Golden Bachelor of New York, The Golden Bachelor of L.A., The Golden Bachelor of Miami," Pascal suggested.
When Pascal broke up with Joan during their Fantasy Suite date in Tahiti, he claimed that he wasn't falling in love with Joan -- like Chock Chapple and Guy Gansert definitely were -- and that he was missing a romantic "spark" with her.
But Pascal was also apparently worried about the fact, if he and Joan ended up together, they'd have to navigate a long-distance relationship after the show.
"That's the biggest challenge I had with Joan. I didn't want to invest because I want a partner on a daily basis," Pascal admitted.
While Joan -- who is settled in Maryland surrounded by her family -- has made it clear she's totally fine with flying on a plane to spend time with her eventual The Golden Bachelorette winner, Pascal -- who owns a busy beauty salon in Chicago, IL -- isn't willing to complicate his life.
"I said from the beginning, if you take a 25 to 30-year-old kid who doesn't have a pot to pee on, doesn't own a car, who are in between jobs, who rent an apartment, who's looking for an identity... it's easy to say, 'Hey, I'm going to move to L.A., I'm going to move to New Orleans, and we're going to make a living together,'" Pascal vented, seemingly taking a shot at the younger generation of Bachelor and Bachelorette leads.
"But when you are like me, established, I have a business, I have real estate, I have my friends, I have my routine, I have my health club, I have my connection... I ain't going to move anywhere."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWPascal pointed out how Chicago has 13 million people and so The Golden Bachelor franchise should be able to find plenty of applicants in one state at a time.
"You tell me you can't find 25 widowed or divorced people in that age group?" Pascal questioned.
"Because in my age, I want to wake up with somebody, I want go to bed with somebody. I want to take a walk with somebody. I don't want to get in a plane to go see somebody every two weeks."
Pascal therefore said a format change would probably help to roll out more happy The Golden Bachelor couples and marriages in the future.
The Bachelor 27 couple Zach Shallcross and Kaity Biggar, for example, are still together and planning their wedding. Before Zach had starred on the series in 2023, he was living in Austin, TX, where Kaity also happened to live.
Once the show ended, Zach and Kaity seamlessly settled into an Austin lifestyle together.
"To me, if I meet somebody who lives in [another suburb of Chicago], okay then," Pascal noted.
"We could go spend every weekend together. We could spend couple nights a week together. But if you live in Washington DC, when am I going to see you?"
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The pair, however, announced their split and decision to divorce in April, claiming distance was the main issue because neither of them wanted to leave their loved ones behind.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Gerry is a retired Iowa native who owns a house on a lake in Indiana, and Theresa continues to work a job in finance in her native New Jersey.
"Gerry came up with the idea of doing six weeks there and six weeks here," Theresa said of their current homes during a recent episode of "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast."
Theresa continued, "And I truly wanted to have our home together. I was willing to move [to South Carolina]... He loves where he lives."
Theresa added, "So [the plan] did change, and it wasn't what we had discussed. We had never discussed six weeks here, six weeks there."
Theresa therefore gushed about how it would be "an outstanding idea" for The Golden Bachelor franchise to cast regionally, meaning Gerry would have had a pool of bachelorettes living in driving distance from him in Indiana to choose from.
"I think that's what they should do... especially for people who are older, who have grandchildren and are established in their communities and they have home. [Moving] is really a difficult ask," Theresa explained.
Theresa said she "applauded Joan for addressing that issue immediately" with her The Golden Bachelorette bachelors.
Although distance wasn't the only factor in Theresa and Gerry's split, the mother and grandmother said she and Gerry "probably" would've had "a better chance" of staying together had they lived in the same state when they first met.
Gerry and Theresa's divorce was finalized in June.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
