And the one telling sign of what’s to come!

There’s something bizarre about entering a cinema in the middle of the day.

That whole feeling of leaving the glaring midday sun behind for a dark, air-conditioned foyer with massive LED screens and a kaleidoscopic candy bar – it’s akin to walking into a casino or nightclub.

And as I made my way into Sydney’s Event Cinemas on Monday afternoon for the exclusive premiere of The Golden Bachelor, that feeling was ramped up to one hundred.
Woman’s Day attended the exclusive premiere of The Golden Bachelor with the entire cast.
Walking into the Gold Class lounge, I felt completely out of my depth as I gazed around the room, watching a bevvy of women in their late 50s and 60s (and Mitch and Mark from The Block) all wearing sequined frocks and dancing to EDM blasting out of the speakers while sipping on free-flowing champagne and cocktails.

As I went to get a bottle of water from the bar, a particularly striking woman, who I would later learn to be Lauren, the 60-year-old equestrian lover who arrives at the mansion riding a stallion in episode one, came over to say ‘Hello.’

After some pleasantries, I asked her how she was feeling with the show about to air, and she gushed about the entire experience, the show’s main star Bear and the rest of the ladies.

While it was nice to hear, I thought to myself, ‘this is The Bachelor, surely there’s some discord happening,’ right?

Soon we were ushered into one of the Gold Class cinemas and as luck would have it, I ended up in the same cinema as all the ladies. Bear was, I think, strategically placed in another cinema.

As I found my seat and the ladies began trickling in, I scanned the room like that crazed doll from Squid Game, observing who sat where.

A lot of them seemed to plonk themselves down wherever, however there were clearly some besties among the group.

Abbie Chatfield’s mother Laura and Lauren could not stop giggling together in the first row while Jan and Janette remained close two rows up.

Interestingly, I did spy Bianca Dye, the beloved radio host, originally sitting next to Shamse, however, for reasons unknown, moved to the back row before the opening credits began.
(Credit: Supplied)
As everyone tucked into their popcorn and goodie bags filled to the brim with Darrell Lea chocolate, host Samantha Armytage waltzed out, looking incredible, to give us an introduction to the episode.

It was clear just how much she loves all the women, and even lead the cinema in a Happy Birthday singalong for Jan, who was celebrating her 67th (!!!) birthday that day.

As Sam was wrapping up, a highly-enthused Nicolette stood up in the back row and yelled: “Can I ask a question?”

The whole cinema fell silent and turned around, perhaps anticipating (or hoping for) a salacious question to follow. But what followed was Nicolette, 55, who is a trained singer, bizarrely launching into the song Golden, made famous from the Netflix children’s phenomenon K-Pop Demon Hunters, instead. Hey, you’ve got to grab every opportunity you can!

After she belted out the last apt lyric, ‘We’re gonna be golden’, the cinema gave out a gentle, polite clap while Samantha thanked everyone again and exited swiftly.

Nicolette’s pre-show entertainment really set the tone for the viewing, with the ladies hooting and hollering at just about every moment unfolding in the episode.

Special shout-outs came to Sunny and Elizete, with the entire cinema erupting into squeals of laughter whenever they came on screen while there were coos aplenty for Janette, Jan, Terri, who all had particularly stirring backstories.

Another adorable thing I observed was the genuine adoration they all seemed to have for their Golden Bachy. I didn’t see a single eye-roll or cheeky whisper between any of the women while Bear was being featured.

Something I did see though were some moments where things were a little more…subdued.

Some of Bianca’s one-liners should have, in my opinion, spurred on some of the biggest laughs from the episode – and yet while many laughed, an equal amount barely chuckled.

It was a striking juxtaposition to the belly laughs that the likes of Elizete got. A glimpse of things to come, perhaps?
The entire cast attended the screening in Sydney. (Credit: Channel Nine)
After the show ended and all the roses were given out, a teary producer from the show stood up and thanked all of the ladies before the EDM began to pump out from the speakers again and the ladies stood up to continue dancing. The party don’t stop.

Outside, a slightly exhausted looking Bear was seen standing at the exit handing out roses to the throngs of guests.

Yes, I got one. No word if Samantha Armytage did though.