Viewers first met the handsome 57-year-old during Kelsey’s hometown date with Joey on “The Bachelor.”
You asked, Bachelor Nation, and ABC delivered.
Viewers first met Mark Anderson, father to Bachelor season 28 winner Kelsey Anderson, during Kelsey’s hometown date in March — and they immediately fell for the 57-year-old from Leesville, La. His wife, Denise, passed away in 2018 after battling breast cancer, and during Kelsey’s hometown date, Mark shared photos of his daughter and his late wife with his future son-in-law, Joey Graziadei.
As soon as the hometown dates episode aired, fans began calling on social media for ABC to cast the handsome, soft-spoken Mark as the lead on The Golden Bachelor or as a contestant on the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelorette. “It’s been more than a little overwhelming,” the widower told the Star Tribune newspaper in April. “Traditional ways of dating aren’t really applicable anymore. I’m not 21 anymore. Where do you go and find somebody my age? How do you meet?”
Reality TV, of course! Earlier, Entertainment Weekly revealed the 24 men who will date Joan Vassos when Golden Bachelorette premieres (Sept. 18) — and that group included Mr. Mark Anderson, who is the youngest of Joan’s suitors.
According to his ABC bio, the Army veteran “loved watching The Golden Bachelor because it made him realize he’s not alone in his grief, and others are also hoping to find love again in this chapter of life.” Other fun facts about Mark: His favorite movie is Elf, he can wiggle his ears, and he is “terrified of ostriches.” (There has to be a story there, right?)
Mark Anderson isn’t the first Bachelor-adjacent parent to make his way onto ABC’s senior dating-show spinoff. Viewers may remember that Patty, mother to season 25 Bachelor Matt James, was a contestant on The Golden Bachelor… but they also may not remember, because she was sent home on night one.
