In an Aussie TV first, when The Golden Bachelor premiered earlier this week, Channel Nine put on a red carpet screening, bringing together all of the ladies and Bachelor Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden for a reunion.
Previously for shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, we’ve never seen our leading man or lady interact publicly with ALL of their contestants before the show even kicks off.
In fact in the media world, it’s usually solo interviews with the leading person to promote the show, and we only chat to the contestants afterwards as they’re being eliminated, or when the happy couple goes live after the big finale.
So what happened on this Aussie-first red carpet? Come on the journey with us as we unravel it.
Here’s what happened at The Golden Bachelor premiere
As the ladies all walked the red carpet, talking to various press outlets, one thing was obvious: the camaraderie and female friendship was a strong focus for this season.
Often arm in arm, and sticking together in pairs or groups of three, the ladies were excited to see the premiere of their upcoming season, with others notably keeping an eye out for Bear.
Lauren was very excited to get a photo with the Bachie himself, which was kinda giving vibes of, well, she hasn’t seen him very recently. So we’re ruling her out as the winner!
Laura Junner, Abbie Chatfield’s mum, happily posed on the carpet with Abbie and Adam Hyde, but didn’t engage much with the media, and while she may have interacted with Bear inside, we didn’t see her interact with him much on the red carpet. So we’re also ruling her out as a winner!
But one interaction DID catch our eye. And it was when Jan was in the background of interviews, waiting in turn with another fan-favourite Janette.
As Jan took her heels off to give her feet a break, she stayed chatting with Janette with the two of them keeping close the whole event, Janette’s arm often around Jan.
Enter, Bear in the background.
Is it just us or is he looking directly at Jan?
As it turns out, with our very own eyes, we watched him come over and greet Jan with a kiss on the cheek and a hug, while only briefly touching Janette’s arm, and not actively interacting with many of the other ladies on the red carpet.
Is it because he had already greeted Janette earlier? Is it because Jan is the one? Or is she the one who got away?
With Jan winning the First Impressions rose, we know on the show that Bear is keen on her, but months later in person, it also appeared that he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
However, it must be noted that Bear has remained very coy in interviews when talking about his final choice, even calling his final decision ‘unexpected’, which doesn’t necessarily align with Jan who is currently an obvious frontrunner.
“It will be totally unexpected to everyone, I think,” he said previously told Sky News. “All I can tell you is, I made the right decision.”
Insider spills on Bear’s actions during the screening of the episode
While media were situated in a different screening room to the cast, an insider who attended the event told Chattr that Bear sat with someone not from the show during the screening of the first episode, and left the room on two occasions.
The insider said: “Bear left the room when Kim gate-crashed the cocktail party, and when he gave Jan the First Impressions rose. Coincidence? Or could these be his final two?”
Love to chat about Reality TV? Want to share all your thoughts about Golden Bachelor, MKR, The Block and more in live threads? Join us in our new Facebook group and come chat!
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for more entertainment news.
