In quite possibly the most dramatic Night 1 rose ceremony elimination in Bachelor Nation history, The Golden Bachelor‘s Gerry Turner sent former Bachelor Matt James’ mom Patty home during his highly-anticipated premiere.
As Decider noted in a previous piece, when ABC first revealed Patty James was one of the 22 lucky ladies cast on The Golden Bachelor‘s first season, franchise fans rejoiced! Those who watched Matt James’ history-making season remember the 70-year-old single mom and retired real estate professional from Durham, North Carolina, comforted her son, chatted about their family, and offered advice on his journey.
Since her casting announcement received such a warm reception, many assumed Patty would play a major role in The Golden Bachelor premiere, and potentially the season! Instead, her limo exit and one-on-one time with Gerry were barely shown. And she was sent home at the end of Night 1.
On Friday morning, Patty addressed her early elimination on Instagram, posting a photo of herself from the premiere alongside the caption, “It wasn’t meant to be…God has plan for me (and you ❤️)✨????.”
Fans of the James fam lifted Patty up in the comments section, writing messages like “Justice for Patty!” and “You looked fab though????.” And even though her Golden Bachelor journey came to quick close, Patty still celebrated premiere night in style.
She reposted several celebratory messages from fans and friends cheering her on via Instagram Stories, and her son Matt and his partner Rachel Kirkconnell surprised her with a visit and her favorite sweet treats.
“Rach and I flew in-town to surprise mom with @nothingbundtcakes and shower her with love tonight for the premiere ❤️” Matt captioned an Instagram reel. “We love you, we’re so proud of you and I hope you find what you came for, we can’t wait to watch with you ????.”
The reel shows the Bachelor couple driving to Patty’s house and presenting her with her Golden Bachelor-themed bundt cakes. “We love you and raise these cakes to you,” he said. Patty simply commented, “The best surprise‼️????????????.”
Though Patty didn’t find love with Gerry Tuner, the exciting journey proved she has a whole lot of love in her life already. And who knows, maybe if there’s a Golden Bachelorette we could see her get another shot at televised romance.
New episodes of The Golden Bachelor premiere Thursdays from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC with next-day streaming is available on Hulu. And be sure to read our interview with Gerry Turner for more Golden Bachelor tidbits.