‘The Golden Bachelorette’: The Ladies Who Were Likely In The Running For the Lead

Joan Vassos' season of 'The Golden Bachelorette' is set to premiere in September. These women might have been considred for the lead role, too.

The Golden Bachelorette is set to premiere on Sept. 18 with Joan Vassos in the lead role. While the decision to give Vassos a second, second chance at love was a no-brainer for the casting department, she was one of many women considered for the role. The team behind the upcoming dating competition had to make some hard decisions. The casting team also seriously considered several of Gerry Turner’s castoffs. These ladies expressed interest in being a part of the series.

‘The Golden Bachelor’ fans think Leslie Fhima and Kathy Swarts were once frontrunners for the role of lead in ‘The Golden Bachelorette’

While Joan Vassos was ultimately crowned the first-ever golden bachelorette, she wasn’t a shoo-in from the word go. It took ABC months to reveal who would become the first older bachelorette. Some fans assumed the network was just building suspense. That might not have been the case. Claire Freeland, an executive producer on the series, told Entertainment Weekly that the team considered a lot of different candidates before ultimately landing on Joan Vassos. Freeland didn’t reveal which women were runners-up in the hunt for the first golden bachelorette. Still, we can make some educated guesses based on what several women had to say about the situation.

Leslie Fhima, Kathy Swarts, and Susan Noles were all cast members of The Golden Bachelor who fans thought could lead the new series. Leslie Fhima and Kathy Swarts both expressed their interest in the job. From the way they talked, they may have had some conversations with the casting team before they ultimately settled on Joan Vassos.

In interviews shortly after the The Golden Bachelor finale, Fhima openly discussed how she would behave if she were given the chance to date more than a dozen men at once. During her early chats, it sounded like Fhima would serve as the first golden bachelorette. Fans were shocked when she wasn’t given the job.

Kathy Swarts told People, just weeks before Joan Vassos was crowned the first-ever golden bachelorette, that she was 100% interested in leading the series. However, Swarts theorized that the casting team might have difficulty finding 20 men who fit her criteria. Swarts also made it sound like she had had, at the very least, an exploratory conversation about the series.

Susan Noles and Faith Martin seemed out of the running early on

Aside from Fhima and Swarts, Susan Noles and Faith Martin were contestants that fans mentioned a lot when discussing the first-ever golden bachelorette. Both ladies were fan favorites, but it doesn’t sound like the casting team seriously considered either lady for the role.

Susan Noles has had no issue discussing her life on podcasts and in interviews. Still, she never seriously discussed the possibility of becoming the lead on The Golden Bachelorette. The fact that Noles seemed guarded about the topic suggests she probably didn’t seriously consider taking the role. Faith Martin took herself out of the running months before the announcement was made. She stated on Instagram that she knew she would not be the lead. Martin didn’t mention whether she had turned down the chance or was not approached about the job.