Here’s everything you need to know about the Channel 9 series.

The Golden Bachelor’s Samantha Armytage and Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden have revealed what fans can expect from the brand new reality show. Photos: Channel 9

After almost two years off air, The Bachelor franchise is set to return to Australian TV with a major twist. The Golden Bachelor is a spin-off of the popular dating franchise featuring older participants looking for love, and follows the successful launch of the reality show in the US.

While Channel 9 has shared limited information about the upcoming series outside of last week’s announcement, both the show’s host, Samantha Armytage, and leading man, Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden, attended the 65th Annual TV WEEK Logie Awards on Sunday. Sam told Yahoo Lifestyle on the red carpet that she cannot wait for viewers to tune into the series and fall in love with Bear.

“He’s gorgeous, but he’s also a really nice man. He’s a very kind man,” she shared. “I think we’ve found a wonderful person to be our first ever Golden Bachelor, and he’s looking for love again.

“He’s been widowed, and he’s got three wonderful boys who have grown up. So he feels like it’s time for him to try and meet someone again. So we’re going to try and help him do that!”

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What can fans expect from The Golden Bachelor?

Sam explained that the season will feature 20 ladies vying for the affections of the Golden Bachelor, and there’s “something for everyone”.

“The ladies are spectacular, you are going to love them. They are really accomplished, really beautiful, but really powerful in their own way. And they’ve all got wonderful stories to tell,” she detailed.

“It’s an interesting show. It’s got all the normal reality dating stuff. I mean, it’s silly and it’s funny, but I think the difference here is that it’s got some really meaningful moments, and some really powerful stuff happens.”

When asked if The Golden Bachelor will feature any of the drama and cattiness from the original series, she responded: “Yes! Come on, it’s reality. Bring the drama. Who doesn’t want the drama?”

Samantha Armytage and Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden attended the 2025 Logies. Photo: Getty

Who is Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden?

Bear is a widowed father of three, an infrastructure engineer, and a passionate sailor who is believed to be in his mid-50s. While speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle at the Logies, he shared some further insight into who he is and why he decided to sign up for the reality show.

“I’m Canadian, for one,” he said. “I’m just fun-loving, I love excitement, I love outdoors, fitness, and this is incorporating a bit of that excitement, for sure.

“I lost my wife 14 years ago. I was trying a few different dating techniques, a bit online. And I always tell my boys, I’ve got three sons, and I tell them, ‘If you continue to do the same thing over and over, expecting different results, that’s the definition of insanity’. So when this presented itself, I said, sure, why not?”

Bear teased that the upcoming season will feature “a bit of drama” and “a lot of love”, adding: “There’s a lot of romance, there’s a lot of flirting. It’s gonna be good.”

Who are the contestants on The Golden Bachelor?

Although the cast is yet to be announced, it’s already been leaked that Abbie Chatfield’s mum, Laura, 65, will be following in her daughter’s footsteps as a contestant on the dating show.

Meanwhile, former Bachelor Matty ‘J’ Johnson revealed to Yahoo Lifestyle at the Logies this his mother, Ellie, was also approached by producers to be a contestant.

“She was asked, and I wanted her to do it. I wanted a new daddy! I was like, ‘Do it, you’ll find love, someone that I can hang out with’. She’s 73, so she said she was too old, and unfortunately, she knocked it back,” he shared.

“I didn’t know who the Bachelor was, and I now realise, I think he’s like 56, and I don’t feel like she was age appropriate for him. So I’m glad that she listened to her gut and not to her son.”

When will The Golden Bachelor premiere?

The Golden Bachelor began filming in March and is tipped to air on Channel 9 after The Block wraps up in October.