The Golden Bachelor fans have shared their divided opinions about one contestant’s decision to skip her daughter’s wedding to be on the ABC show.
Sandra Manson spoke candidly about her family during the fourth episode of the season, which follows 72-year-old Gerry Turner’s journey to find love again, years after his first wife passed away. The program follows a similar format as The Bachelor andThe Bachelorette, with the lead dating 25 to 30 singles, before getting engaged to the final contestant of the season.
In the fourth episode, some of the contestants, who are all in their sixties and seventies, participated in a game of pickleball with Turner, as part of a group date. During Manson’s game against another team, host Jesse Palmer revealed to Turner that she was “missing her daughter’s wedding” to be on the program. Turner then responded: “Wow that’s something.”
Following the game, Turner and Manson had the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation, during which the leading man mentioned Palmer’s comment about her. “Someone told me that you have a daughter getting married today,” he said. “Don’t you think you need to tell me about that a little bit?”
Manson then responded by explaining that, before she agreed to star on the show, she spoke to her daughter about missing the wedding. “She said: ‘Mom, I’ve got my guy. I want you to go get yours.’”
After Turner said that he was “very flattered” by Manson’s decision, he also acknowledged that her daughter’s wedding was “a big event”, which she agreed with. He then gave Manson the chance to FaceTime her daughter and new son-in-law to congratulate them on their nuptials.
On social media, many fans have questioned if Manson’s decision to miss her child’s wedding could affect her compatibility with Turner, as he’s previously expressed on The Golden Bachelor how important family is to him.
“Surprised Gerry didn’t tell Sandra he knows she’s not his person and that she should go to HER DAUGHTER’S wedding…” one viewer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Clearly there’s a generational gap but I just don’t get how Gerry sees Sandra missing her kid’s wedding as a green flag,” another added.
In the comments of a video of the interaction on TikTok, which has more than 1.2m views, many people went on to share their candid reactions to Manson, while noting that they wouldn’t opt to miss their own child’s wedding to be on the ABC show.
“I thought this was so bizarre??? I’d be so upset if my mom missed my wedding for a dating show,” one wrote, while another added: “No man is worth missing my daughter’s wedding. [Manson’s] a red flag.”
On the other hand, some viewers came to Manson’s defence, with claims that her child’s wedding may not have been a big event, which is why it wasn’t an issue for the reality star to miss it.
“Okay but when she FaceTimed her daughter her daughter did not look like she was getting married..maybe they just signed papers today and party later,” one wrote.
“I was thinking maybe she eloped and they played it up like that,” another agreed, while a third added: “I sort of think they had a courthouse ceremony or something, and her daughter didn’t seem concerned!”
Before Manson was faced with criticism, Turner had opted to give her the group date rose in the episode, meaning that she’d continue on in the competition for now.
“There’s a rose on the table, and there are several of you that are very deserving of this. But this rose has to go to someone who really gave up a lot to be here today. Someone who missed a daughter’s wedding. I gotta say that’s pretty huge,” Turner said, before handing the rose to Manson.
