While you're waiting to find out which rando from Michelle's season of The Bachelorette will become the next Bachelor, I'm sitting here waiting for the much-anticipated, highly-teased Senior Bachelor to premiere with my cup of tea, my many cats, and my nightly programs.

If you remember back many, many moons ago ABC announced it would be casting for a Senior Bachelor (official title yet to be announced) and since then they've been casting... and casting... and casting... and casting according to the commercial breaks during BIP, The Bachelor, and The Bachelorette. Meanwhile I'm just waiting to find out when the Senior Bachelor is going to air with the amount of screen time the ad for it is getting. And if casting is a problem, have they considered the Classifieds?

There's so much to look forward to with a Senior Bachelor. The lives lived! The stories to tell! The sheer amount of second, third, and fourth wives/husbands we'll be working with! As seniors, we have to assume, too, that these cast members aren't there for the "wrong reasons" — if they're even on Instagram — and are genuinely looking for someone to spend the rest of their lives with!

Before the pandemic, Bachelor boss Robert Mills told Variety that...

“Some of the casting interviews we got, they were just so touching. It’s such a different way of doing ‘The Bachelor’ because these people are just at a totally different place in their lives. There is an interesting thing about people who have hit the other end of the spectrum, who’ve lived their lives, they’ve raised their kids, some have been widowed or divorced and maybe some have never been in love. We thought that would be an interesting dynamic through the ‘Bachelor’ prism.”

Given COVID, casting for the show was quickly put on hold but is back up and running. And with millennials watching the Bachelor franchises this spring/summer/fall, what a perfect opportunity to catch the eye of a grandson or granddaughter itching to get their grandparent engaged!

And while we don't know when it will air, let's look at the upcoming Bachelor calendar for a best guess:

• In October, we will have Michelle's season of The Bachelorette. This should run until somewhere around Dec. 21 (if the 10 weeks of episodes for Katie's season were any indication)
• Usually, The Bachelor airs the first week of January, which The Hollywood Reporter confirmed in its piece anticipating the announcement of the next Bachelor (he's coming from Michelle's season, y'all)
• Filming for The Bachelor is set to begin at the end of September, so keep that in mind as to where attention for the production studio will be
• The Bachelor usually concludes mid-March
• The Bachelorette usually returns in May or June

So... to me it seems like there's an open window from mid-March to earliest May for some lucky seniors to find love. And find they will... once they complete a very intense interview / application, currently available on the ABC casting page.

The application for the show is very thorough (as it should be, there have been some sus contestants as of late) asking 79 questions. Some of the most notable are as follows:

• Have you ever been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime of any type? Have you ever had a temporary restraining order issued against someone or had one issued against you? Have you ever filed for bankruptcy or chapter 11?
• Have you ever been married? If you answered yes to the question above, how many times have you been married and please list wedding dates. If you have been married, why are you no longer together? Please list the date when such marriage(s) were legally dissolved, if they are.
• Are you genuinely looking for love and why? Why would you want to find love on TV?
• Please describe your ideal mate in terms of physical attraction and in terms of personality attraction. What is most important, physical attraction or personality when first meeting someone?

As for other info about the show, here's some fast facts to carry you over until more information (or a lead) is revealed.

• The contestants will be ages 65+.
• The show is possibly called Golden Years.
• Back in January 2021, Rob Mills told Variety that shooting could start as soon as fall. This was before ABC announced that there would be two Bachelorette seasons back to back-ish
• They are considering shooting the show in a bubble due to the fact that these contestants are the most at risk for Covid-19.
• The show could be streaming on Hulu and not ABC.
• Blake Moynes' Mom, Emily, wants to be on the show, but only if Tre's uncle is the Bachelor.

Image: Photo by Kampus Production