'The Golden Bachelor' Is Already Making a Major Casting Mistake

Filming for The Golden Bachelor Season 2 is expected to begin this June, which means ABC will unveil who their leading man is any moment. After the tumultuous fallout from Season 1, which included the Hollywood Reporter exposing Gerry Turner for lying about his dating and job history, and a marriage to Theresa Nist that ended as quickly as it began, there's a lot of pressure on the network to cast this season's leading man right. However, ABC is already making a major casting mistake – which may cost them a successful season.

The Golden Bachelor Season 2 May Break The Traditional Bachelor Casting Formula

Many social media accounts and outlets reported that the network had opened a casting call to the public for The Golden Bachelor Season 2. That means just about anyone is allowed to nominate their family member, friend, co-worker, etc, to apply. The casting call means that the network is searching outside the pool of men from The Golden Bachelorette as the lead. The casting application window has already closed, which means it's very likely that the network has cast someone fans have no idea about.

The Bachelor franchise has a tried and true casting formula – the lead gets cast from the pool of contestants from the season before. For example, Grant Ellis was cast from Jenn Tran’s pool of men, while Jenn was picked from Joey Graziadei's group of women, etc. Since Gerry was the first Golden Bachelor, of course he was selected from the public, and Joan Vassos was cast from Gerry's women. If they decide to cast The Golden Bachelor from a random casting call, they will be breaking the traditional formula. Fans like seeing familiar faces, especially ones they believe deserve another chance at finding the one. It’s much harder for fans to be engaged and invested in a leading man they don’t know. Besides, there's a group of eligible Golden Bachelors from Joan's season just waiting for their second (or I guess third now) chance at love.

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There's An Obvious Frontrunner to Be The Golden Bachelor

There's one contestant from Joan's season that fans are crossing their fingers is chosen to be this season's lead. Charles Ling stole the hearts of viewers right from the get-go. Charles was the full package. He had humor, charisma, and was relatable. During the men's Tell All episode, Charles was nominated by the crowd to be the next Golden Bachelor, which has been echoed by his cast mates and online fans. Host Jesse Palmer has shared his support for Charles in an interview with Us Weekly saying “He’s a national treasure...I totally get why America has fallen so hard for Charles L. He’s legendary. I love the guy.” Charles is also open to the idea himself, saying to Us Weekly at the tell-all taping that “I need to probably talk to my kids whether I should move on or not necessarily move on,” he said. “[It’s] kind of too early to make a call at this moment.” Charles is the smartest casting decision, considering fans are already head over heels for the man, and would watch his season in a heartbeat.

The network made a major mistake by opening up the casting to the public when there are a number of choices (and one obvious choice) to be Season 2’s leading man. The last thing we want is a repeat of what happened after Season 1 with Gerry. All we can do now is anxiously wait for the announcement and hope we aren't looking at an unfamiliar face – and instead, a fan-favorite.