Reality television rarely delivers on its promise of true love, but few shows have generated as much fascination—and controversy—as ABC’s The Golden Bachelor. Now, as the franchise enters its second season with Mel Owens at the helm, the drama behind the scenes and on camera is reaching new heights. Recent revelations from former star Gerry Turner’s forthcoming memoir and the antics of current contestant Nicolle Briscoe have left fans and critics alike wondering: is the search for love on The Golden Bachelor genuine, or is it just another act for the cameras?
According to ScreenRant, the latest season’s spotlight has landed squarely on Nicolle Briscoe, a 64-year-old yoga instructor from Miami, Florida. Briscoe, one of the frontrunners vying for Mel Owens’ affections, has managed to stir up more controversy than any previous contestant. From the very first pool party, where Mel, a 66-year-old NFL player-turned-lawyer from Detroit, Michigan, kissed her in front of the other women, Briscoe’s presence has been impossible to ignore. But as the season has progressed, her behavior has gone from attention-grabbing to downright villainous.
Briscoe’s most eyebrow-raising moment came during episode 4, aired on October 9, 2025. She openly declared her ambition to become an influencer, telling her fellow contestants that she felt she was "dating America" rather than Mel. Briscoe explained, "the show would give them all exposure like they'd never had," and even predicted that they’d have "Housewife status" after the show ended. She didn’t stop there—Briscoe went on to disparage the previous season’s cast, saying they "weren't so great-looking." Her Instagram, she boasted, is filled with healthy, plant-based recipes, and she expressed a desire to be a spokeswoman for midlife beauty or health products. The message was clear: for Briscoe, the show is less about romance and more about building a personal brand.
Such comments have not gone unnoticed. During a group date, contestant Robin Rocha tried to warn Mel about the possibility that some women might not be there for the right reasons. But Mel, perhaps naively, insisted that everyone was being genuine. Still, Briscoe’s behavior has prompted speculation that she might be a "producer plant"—someone cast specifically to create drama for the show. Her actions, from taking credit for lemon bars baked by the group to slipping away for solo jacuzzi time while others worked together, have consistently set her apart as the season’s villain.
As ScreenRant notes, this pattern isn’t new to the franchise. Every season seems to have that one contestant whose antics are so outrageous that fans suspect they’re there to stir the pot rather than find love. Yet Briscoe’s brazen ambition and disregard for her fellow contestants have taken things to a new level. The contrast with season one is stark: back then, the women famously bonded and supported one another, with only minor spats (like Kathy Swarts telling Theresa Nist to "zip it") punctuating the camaraderie. Producers, it seems, may have decided that a little more chaos was just what the show needed.
But the drama isn’t confined to this season. The original Golden Bachelor, Gerry Turner, has been making headlines of his own. In an exclusive piece published by USA TODAY on October 8, 2025, Turner opens up in his memoir, Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss, and Reality TV (set for release on November 4, 2025), about the real-life complications that followed his televised romance. Turner, now 74, recounts the tense prenuptial agreement standoff with his then-fiancée, Theresa Nist, which nearly derailed their wedding at a Palm Springs resort on January 4, 2024. "I began to worry she was going to run out the clock," Turner writes, describing his anxiety over whether to call off the expensive, televised ceremony or enter into a marriage legally unprotected. The prenup was finalized just in time, but the marriage lasted only three months, with the couple announcing their divorce on Good Morning America on April 12, 2024.
Turner’s memoir pulls back the curtain on the supposedly fairytale romance, revealing doubts and regrets that plagued him before and after the wedding. He describes confiding in fellow contestant Faith Martin the night before the ceremony, admitting he felt "trapped" and unsure if marrying Nist was the right decision. Martin’s blunt advice—"What the hell are you doing? Gerry, you do not have to do this"—haunted him in hindsight. Yet Turner says he pressed on, unwilling to disappoint Nist or the millions of viewers invested in their story.
The fallout from the divorce was severe. Turner writes candidly about his struggle with depression and fleeting suicidal thoughts, exacerbated by online criticism and the end of his relationship with Nist. He admits, "One night, while I was lying in my bed staring at the ceiling, it all became too much, and for the briefest of moments, I thought about putting a gun to my head." Ultimately, thoughts of his daughters, Angie and Jenny, pulled him back from the brink. Support from friends, family, and former contestants helped him recover, though he notes with pain that Nist did not check in on him after he revealed his diagnosis of slow-growing bone marrow cancer in December 2024.
Turner’s reflections on his time as the Golden Bachelor are bittersweet. He disputes some of the negative press coverage but acknowledges that the experience taught him resilience. "If my time as a lead on a TV show taught me anything, it's that you don't have to give up. That's the true success story of 'The Golden Bachelor,'" he writes. Turner’s journey has come full circle: on October 3, 2025, he announced his engagement to Lana Sutton, signaling a new chapter after the turbulence of reality TV romance.
The juxtaposition of Briscoe’s antics in season two and Turner’s hard-won wisdom highlights the evolving nature of The Golden Bachelor. As the franchise adapts to the ever-changing demands of reality television, questions about authenticity, fame, and the search for love remain front and center. Whether viewers tune in for the drama or the possibility of genuine connection, one thing is certain: The Golden Bachelor continues to captivate—and confound—audiences in equal measure.