Bachelor Nation
How Will ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Season 10 Work With the ‘Golden’ Additions? Fans React to the Twist
After taking a year off in 2024, Bachelor in Paradise is returning with Season 10 this year. The show will be even more supersized than ever, with singles from The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bachelorette also heading to the beach for another shot at love.
Jesse Palmer made the exciting announcement during The Bachelor Season 29 finale on Monday, March 24. However, with such little information provided, fans are curious about how things will work with Golden and flagship singles all part of the same cast.
This new twist is quite an unprecedented move for Bachelor Nation, as the Golden franchise and flagship franchise have never been combined in this way before. Scroll down for the biggest questions being asked about Season 10 and what we know so far.
Will everyone be staying at the same resort?
The location for Season 10 of Bachelor in Paradise has not been announced yet. The show used to be filmed at Playa Escondida Resort in Sayulita, Mexico, but is reportedly set for a location change in 2025. In the past, the young contestants didn’t sleep in the most ideal conditions. There was no air conditioning in the sleeping quarters and the singles slept on bunkbeds.
The Golden cast members have some experience with bunkbeds from Bachelor Mansion, but roughing it in the heat might prove to be a bit more difficult for them. On an episode of the Almost Famous podcast in February, Ashley Iaconetti suggested a separate resort for the Golden stars.
“I know they’re not going to be able to handle the conditions that we live in because, as a 26-year-old, I had a hard time living in those conditions, but I hope they have this little side resort that the Goldens are mingling at because that would be prime TV,” she revealed.
At the time, Iaconetti and her cohost, Ben Higgins, were hearing rumblings that Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic would be the new location for BIP. If that’s the case, perhaps the living conditions in general will get an upgrade, making it more comfortable for both groups at the same resort.
Will the dating pools be combined?
“Is it bad that I want one of Gerry [Turner]‘s ladies to land one of the male twenty-somethings? That would be INCREDIBLE tv,” one fan noted on Reddit, prompting the question of whether the Goldens will have the opportunity to date the younger singles.
Another commenter theorized that one particular contestant from Joan Vassos‘ Golden Bachelorette season would probably go after the younger ladies if he joins the show. “If Pascal is on that beach , he definitely WONT be going after golden ladies,” the fan speculated.
Disney/Christopher Willard
Not everyone seems to be on board with the idea of the two groups co-mingling, though. “They better make a rule that you can only choose people in your age group. Really don’t wanna see geriatric men pursuing 20-somethings,” someone said. Another agreed, writing, “Idk about this. The vibe of golden felt very wholesome and the vibe of Paradise is very much not. Feels like they’re about to ruin both in one move.”
ABC has not confirmed what the format will be and how the dating will work.
How many cast members will there be?
Obviously, the pool of contestants to choose from in the Golden franchise is much smaller, which begs the question of how many cast members there will be from each group. Not only have there been three seasons of The Bachelor/Bachelorette since last BIP to choose from, but there are usually some cast members picked from older seasons, too. However, there has only been one season each of The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bachelorette, and with some of the contestants already in new relationships, there’s not as many casting options.
As one Reddit commenter pointed out, “The thing that bothers me about this the most is that the dating pool will be smaller. As it was, having say 16 people on the beach made each gender’s dating pool like 8-10 people per week as new people come in. So now if we were to start with 16 people but there are two groups within that, say it’s divided 8 goldens and 8 young people. That’s only 4 people to choose from per gender.”
Another fan agreed, adding, “Yeah I thought this too. This is definitely a decision designed more for entertainment than it is about actually wanting to form lasting relationships.”
It certainly doesn’t seem plausible for there to be an even number of Goldens and flagship cast members. So far, the Golden cast members have been confirmed as Leslie Fhima and Gary Levingston, while flagship cast members are Zoe McGrady, Jonathon Johnson, and Hakeem Moulton.
How do fans feel about the twist?
Needless to say, there are plenty of questions that still need to be answered about this new version of Bachelor in Paradise. For now, there’s mostly a lot of confusion amongst Bachelor Nation fans. Many online commenters are worried that the new format could produce a “cheesy and creepy storyline” if the dating pools are combined.
“Could not hate this more if i tried,” someone admitted on Reddit, while an assenter said, “This… doesn’t make sense.”
However, there are also some viewers who are excited to see what’s to come. “I think it will be fun!” someone said on Reddit. “I am picturing less cross-generational dating but more fun dynamics of the generations befriending one another and/or squabbling on the beach. I think it will also be fun to see whether tropes about age bringing maturity show up on the sand ?”
Another optimistic viewer said, “I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out!” and someone else wrote, “I’m surprised people are mad about this, I think it’ll be fun!! it’s ABC they’ll most likely put in rules where goldens and youngins can’t date each other so I think it’ll be cute to see goldens date and find love since you know they’ll actually take it seriously.”
Bachelor in Paradise, Season 10, Summer 2025, ABC
