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The Golden Bachelor
Mama James, mother of former Bachelor lead Matt James, returned to screens for The Golden Bachelor‘s first-ever “Women Tell All” special on Thursday night. But much like her time on the senior-centered reality series, we barely saw her!
When Jesse Palmer welcomed 13 eliminated Golden Bachelor contestants to the stage and introduced them all to the studio audience and viewers at home, it felt promising that Patty’s intro came first. Maybe we’ll finally get to hear from the Bachelor Mom, I thought. Perhaps she’ll share some details about her first and only night in the Bachelor Mansion. And hey, some Matt and Rachael Kirkconnell updates might be on the way, I told myself. But no!
Instead, Jesse introduced Patty, she smiled for the camera, and though she sat in her stool amongst the other 12 women from Gerry’s season for the full 55-minute episode, we never heard a word from her. Snubbed again by Bachelor producers! And just like the first time, I’m surprised!
It’s worth noting that unlike the live franchise finales, the Golden Bachelor “Women Tell All” episode was pre-recorded and edited, so during the live event it’s possible Mama James was chattier and her comments just didn’t make the final cut. But the contestant also shared a “Women Tell All” Instagram post ahead of the episode, captioned, “(Don’t blink 😉) Also, don’t play the drinking game where you take a shot every time you see me or you won’t have one bit of fun tonight 🤣😂 🥂 🥂” so it seems she was also aware of her nearly nonexistent screen time.
As Decider noted after Patty’s early elimination, when ABC revealed she was one of the 22 lucky ladies cast on The Golden Bachelor‘s first season, Bachelor Nation rejoiced! The 70-year-old single mom and retired real estate professional from Durham, North Carolina appeared on her son’s season of The Bachelor to comfort him, chat about their family, and offer advice, so fans were excited to see her again and assumed she would play a major role in the premiere, and potentially the season! Instead, her limo exit and one-on-one time with Gerry were barely shown (something that felt deeply bizarre while watching, but made perfect sense in hindsight), and she was one of six women Gerry sent home Night 1.
After her unexpected elimination, James posted a photo of herself from the premiere set to Brian Withycombe’s “Smooth Like Silk” alongside the caption, “It wasn’t meant to be…God has plan for me (and you ❤️)✨💫 .”
The post was promptly followed by Instagram Story makeup tutorials, so it seemed Patty had fully moved on from Ger Ber. But we still expected to hear something from her given her unique connection to the franchise. Come on, producers!
New episode of The Golden Bachelor air Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.
