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The “Bachelor” franchise’s first “Golden Wedding” struck gold for ABC.
As viewers tuned in to watch “The Golden Bachelor” Gerry Turner marry fiancée Theresa Nist on live TV, the two-hour special drew 5.22 million viewers and a rating of 0.63 in the key broadcast demo among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen live-plus-same day figures. It marked the most-watched and highest-rated entertainment program of Thursday’s primetime.
Viewership for “The Golden Wedding” was up 19.72% from the series premiere of “The Golden Bachelor,” which courted 4.36 million viewers, which was also up 45% from the most recent premiere of “The Bachelor.”
Similarly, viewership for “The Golden Wedding” outpaced the season’s average of 4.83 million viewers by 8%, and ratings for the special exceeded the season average of 0.60 by 5%.
Still, viewership for the special was down 16.67% from its finale, which brought in 6.09 million viewers.
The ceremony, which was held from the La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs, California, reunited fan-favorites from “The Golden Bachelor” — including officiant Susan Noles and gold carpet correspondent Kathy Swarts — and brought together franchise staples, from former “Bachelorettes” Charity Lawson, Rachel Recchia and Michelle Young to upcoming “Bachelor” Joey Graziadei.
The special’s live aspect certainly shook things up, as “Bachelor in Paradise” Season 9 alum Brayden Bowers unexpectedly proposed to his girlfriend and “Bachelor” alum Christina Mandrell.
The buzzy special became Thursday’s No. 1 most social entertainment program of the day as it garnered 166,500 total social interactions, up 7% by the 155,000 social interactions brought in by the season finale of “The Golden Bachelor.”
While “The Golden Bachelor” has yet to be officially renewed by ABC, nor has an additional “Golden Bachelorette” spin-off been given the official go ahead, a future iteration of a “Golden” season seems likely for “The Bachelor” franchise, though it might take a while.
“The state of ‘Bachelor’ Nation feels very strong right now, and we are feeling we are in a good place with all iterations of the franchise,” Rob Mills, Walt Disney Television EVP of unscripted and alternative entertainment, told TheWrap in January. “The key will be to avoid oversaturation or set our producers up for failure by giving them too many hours to produce at the same high standard that they did for Gerry and Joey’s seasons.”
“The Golden Bachelor” is produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon.
