ABC’sThe Golden Bachelor announced a nationwide search for their next leading man. And where exactly are they looking for these dudes? On pickleball courts.

The Golden Bachelor casting team took to Facebook to post inquiries about various pickleball clubs and leagues with hundreds and thousands of members to help spread the word. 

Here’s a screenshot of one of their posts:

“We are searching the entire nation for the next extraordinary gentleman to become the Golden Bachelor. I’m reaching out to you because I have a feeling our next Golden Bachelor could be a pickleball player,” said casting director Alexa Zappia. 

Girl, I couldn’t agree with you more. 

Casting directors are searching pickleball hotspots in major cities across the country to find Mr. Right. 

Some of the commenters on these posts are helping the search by sending along specific names, neighborhoods, and courts that are worth a visit.

If you’re interested in nominating someone from your local courts, click here.

This makes me wonder if some single senior pickleball pros might be perfect for the gig? A life of travel, adventure, and pickleball? Sounds like the perfect choice for this show.

Looking for the program's next star at pickleball courts is a perfect place to start. 

The first Golden Bachelor, Gerry Turner, loved pickleball. It may have also caused his quick divorce with his final pick. I’m convinced it was because she wasn’t as avid a pickleball player as he was.

Turner was so passionate about America's fastestr-growing sport that he had a pickleball date during the show, and even attended the 2023 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships and played with Mary and Maggie Brascia. 

The following season, Golden Bachelorette, Joan Vassos, featured pickleball during episode one when a contestant tried to woo her with his dinks and drives. 

Pickleball is the perfect setting for the Golden Bachelor because it attracts a huge variety of people, with lots of them in that target audience of the “golden years.”

Involvement in pickleball also shows that the bachelor will be active, healthy, enjoy community, and learn to be an excellent communicator with his doubles partner. Those are a lot of green flags for a potential pickleball romance. 

It will also be great for the Golden Bachelor to easily weed out the non-pickleball playing women. Maybe they should partner with DUPR and send them on a group date where the ladies all get their ratings. Tell me that wouldn’t create excellent TV. 

If the next Golden Bachelor isn’t a serious pickleball player, I’m going to be extremely disappointed. After all, they made Joey Graziadei - who was a tennis player - the Bachelor. And the ladies loved that. 

So ABC, I beg of you, capitalize on the allure of athletes and make the next Golden Bachelor a pickleball player.