The first season of “The Golden Bachelorette” dating show premieres Wednesday, Sept. 18, and there will be a man from Philadelphia among the sea of hopeful bachelors vying for the heart of leading lady Joan Vassos — a 61-year-old grandmother and school administrator from Rockville, Maryland.
Charles L. — whose last name has not yet been released — will be part of the cast of ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor” spinoff, the franchise announced Tuesday. He is a 66-year-old retired financial analyst who lives in Philly and is a father of two, according to his ABC bio.
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“Once you have a loved one next to you, or along you, you know, your life becomes much fuller,” Charles L. said in a promo posted to Instagram. “And I have a lot to share.”
Looking at the released bios, most contestants are referred to only by first name — as though they’re mononymous pop stars like Beyoncé or Cher. Charles L. does not share that luxury because there is a competing Charles: Charles K., of California. If previous “Bachelor” franchise seasons are any indication, Charles L. may never shed that initial, even if the competing Charles goes home early. Regardless of his sharing a name with a fellow contestant, Charles L. “really is someone special,” according to his bio.
According to his bio, he “grew up in rural China and moved to the United States with only $20 in his pocket.”
Charles L. said he dreams of going to the moon, loves to fish — he even made his own fishing nets growing up — and enjoys watching the NBA Finals every year.
On “The Golden Bachelorette,” Charles L. will be looking for love with Vassos, who was a contestant on last year’s premiere season of “The Golden Bachelor,” starring Gerry Turner. Vassos and Turner struck up a promising relationship early on in the season, but she made the difficult decision to cut that relationship short and leave the show to take care of a family matter.
Among Charles L.’s competition for Vassos’ heart is Mark Anderson, a 57-year-old army veteran from Louisiana. “Bachelor Nation” fans may know him as the beloved father of Kelsey Anderson, who received the final rose from Montgomery County’s Joey Graziadei last season of “The Bachelor.” Mark gained fans — who even campaigned for his turn as “The Golden Bachelor” — when he appeared on Graziadei’s season during hometown dates.
Charles L. will join good company, as the “Bachelor” franchise has been a star-maker for people from Pennsylvania lately. Along with Graziadei’s back-to-back stints on “The Bachelorette” and “The Bachelor,” Lancaster County’s Brett Harris took social media by storm in his one-episode appearance in this season of “The Bachelorette.”
And of course, who can forget Delco’s Susan Noles, who stole fans’ hearts with her sass and class on the “The Golden Bachelor.” Sadly, Noles was not chosen to lead “The Golden Bachelorette.” (In an interview with PhillyVoice in March, she joked that Philadelphia would “burn down the city if I’m not the Golden Bachelorette.”) Nevertheless, she has been popping up in the franchise ever since, with appearances on Graziadei’s season of “Bachelor” and the debut of her “Bachelor” podcast. She’ll surely pop up at some point on Vassos’ season of “The Golden Bachelorette” to offer some advice.
“The Golden Bachelorette” will air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Later in the fall, ABC Wednesdays will have a particularly Philly vibe because “Abbott Elementary” Season 4 will air directly after “The Golden Bachelorette” at 9:30 p.m. starting Oct. 9. Perhaps Urban Saloon will continue its weekly “Bachelorette” watch parties for the occasion.