ABC’s reality dating series The Bachelor has been around for some time, but in September, they decided to do things differently, creating a spinoff called The Golden Bachelor. On it, a 72-year-old widower looks for love again, and the women featured are senior citizens competing for love. One contestant who has the internet talking is a Black woman named Sandra Mason who missed her daughter’s wedding to be on the show. She’s a 75-year-old retired executive assistant.
“My son-in-law said, ‘Mom, our ceremony is eight minutes. Our marriage is a lifetime.’ He said, ‘You go. Go.’ And of course, my daughter said, ‘Mom, I’ve got my guy. You go get yours, ’” the Georgia native told PEOPLE. “So they practically shoved me out and said, ‘You got to do this.’”
Mason said her daughter and new son-in-law are “great people,” and also said, “I’m blessed,” because of the support she has received from them. She also told her potential love match and golden bachelor star, Gerry Turner, that she skipped out on the special day to be there. His response was, “I feel very flattered, but that’s a big event.” The two then called Mason’s daughter via FaceTime, which she was impressed by.
The kicker is, Mason was eliminated from the show the week after she shared this with Turner. Nonetheless, she said that she doesn’t regret her decision. However, the mother-of-two is sad that she wasn’t able to move forward as she was hoping to meet her match. Her daughters were also disappointed but were also impressed because of their mother’s courage.
“They had hoped for a better outcome, [a] different outcome,” she said, adding that they were “pleased that [I] dared to even do this and excited.”
All hope isn’t lost though. One thing Mason got from the experience is a renewed hope that her time will come. She hasn’t given up on love and knows it’s still in the cards for her.
“I’m more motivated. I know it’s possible. No, it’s not just possible — it’s probable,” she told the publication. “It’ll happen. And just be open to it. Just embrace it. if you don’t buy a lottery ticket, you can’t win. Same kind of concept.”
