The Golden Bachelorette star Mark Anderson has found love with his girlfriend, Barbara Alyn Woods, and I’m so glad that he’s out of the Bachelor franchise because the show doesn’t deserve him as the Golden Bachelor lead. Mark got his Bachelor Nation start on Joey Graziadei’s Bachelor season because he’s Joey’s fiancée, Kelsey Anderson’s dad. He lost his wife, Denise, to breast cancer in 2018, and he joined The Golden Bachelorette season 1 in order to see if he’d connect with Joan Vassos.
After Mark and Joan’s one-on-one date during The Golden Bachelorette season 1, Joan said goodbye to Mark because she felt that he wasn’t as far along in his grief journey as she was, as she mourned her late husband, John, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2021. When the show concluded, many thought that Mark would be named the next Golden Bachelor, but I’m so happy that he found love on his own with One Tree Hill actress Barbara instead.
Mark Was Too Good For The Golden Bachelor
He Shouldn’t Have To Endure The Producer Manipulation
Mark is a good person with a pure heart, and I’m thrilled that we didn’t have to watch him go through what Gerry Turner was put through by the producers during The Golden Bachelor season 1. When the show began, Gerry was portrayed as a widower who hadn’t dated much since his wife, Toni, suddenly passed away due to a bacterial infection six years before his appearance on the show, but it was later revealed that he’d had a long-term girlfriend.
Gerry got engaged to Theresa Nist, and they got married during the televised Golden Wedding, but they got divorced just three months later because they couldn’t decide where to live because neither one of them wanted to leave their families. Gerry also later revealed that he was diagnosed with an incurable form of bone marrow cancer, which shifted his priorities. Gerry was then unfairly transformed into a villain because of all of this, and the Golden Bachelor producers didn’t do anything to help him maintain his image. He could never have lived up to the persona that the show had created for him, which I think was so wrong.
I’m very relieved that Mark isn’t going to be subjected to being the next Golden Bachelor because he’s already found love with Barbara. I feel that the producers can’t be trusted with him, and they’d end up destroying his image in the same way that they played a part in hurting Gerry’s. They might’ve even forced Mark into another Golden Wedding, which caused so many problems for Gerry when he and Theresa were pressured to marry quickly so that the show would give them the wedding of their dreams. Gerry didn’t deserve that, and the show doesn’t deserve a man like Mark, who genuinely wants to find the next great love of his life.
Mark Was Able To Build His Relationship With Barbara Privately
Mark Didn’t Have To Go Through The Process Of The Show To Find Love
Another reason that I’m happy that Mark found love with Barbara outside of The Golden Bachelor is that he didn’t have to go through the process of the show. The Golden Bachelor was very damaging to Gerry, and I would’ve hated to see Mark manipulated in the same way. Instead, Mark was able to build his relationship with Barbara privately, and on their own terms. Even though they’re both famous, they went public with their relationship when they were ready by posting on social media. They weren’t forced into the public eye.
I do feel that Mark joined The Golden Bachelorette before he was really ready to start a new relationship, but that experience was necessary in order for him to feel ready to move on to find his next great love. However, it’s possible that Mark might still be struggling a bit, but he and Barbara are working through it together privately. Being the Golden Bachelor would’ve pushed him into the public eye again, and forced him to navigate his relationship very publicly. I think that Mark deserved better than that.
Mark and Barbara have been able to bring their families together during the holidays, including Mark’s five children and her three daughters. In an Instagram post, Barbara shared pictures of their Christmas celebration at the Belle Rive Mansion in Branson, Missouri. If Mark were the Golden Bachelor, he would’ve had to have met the families of his potential partners publicly on the show, which isn’t the best foundation for new relationships. I’ve enjoyed following Mark and Barbara’s relationship as they share things on their own terms, rather than forcing it on the show.
