Zoriana Zurba on 'The Bachelor’s' Age-Inclusive Turn
For 25 seasons, "The Bachelor" has been a mainstay of reality television, offering a lens into the dating lives of countless singles.
Over the years there’s been one common thread: everyone featured on the show was young, usually falling within the 20-to-30 age bracket. That all changed when the show's 26th season rolled out a groundbreaking twist: a 72-year-old bachelor and a full cast of contestants over 60.
Dubbed "The Golden Bachelor," the latest season debuted on September 28, 2023, and many are hailing the age-inclusive move as part of a larger trend toward showcasing later-in-life love. ProCom's Zoriana Zurba spoke about this sea change in an interview with CBC's Jason Osler.
“I think we’re in such a great position now to open up narratives around love and romance,” Zorba said.
She spoke about the youth-centric focus of popular culture, pointing out that romance doesn't have an expiration date. “Popular culture has always skewed young. Culture wants to show people in what they perceive as their prime, and their romantic prime is pictured as someone in their twenties and thirties,” she explained.
However, according to Zurba, the tides are beginning to turn.
“We are having more stories and more ways of representing gender, representing sexuality. We also need to have more ways of talking about love, and that includes age.”
As "The Golden Bachelor" marks a new chapter for the long-running series, it underscores an important shift in our cultural narrative: love and romance aren't confined to any particular age group. This season serves as a tangible sign that mainstream media is starting to catch up with that reality.
