The Golden Wedding's Surprise Proposal Has Bachelor Nation In An Uproar

It's an etiquette no-no to propose at someone else's wedding. Yet that's what happened before the televised live wedding of 72-year-old Gerry Turner and 70-year-old Theresa Nist who found love on "The Golden Bachelor." While theirs may be the first Bachelor Nation wedding of 2024, they may not be the last!

Before Nist and Turner tied the knot, Brayden Bowers, from Season 20 of "The Bachelorette" and Season 9 of "Bachelor in Paradise," got down on one knee and proposed to Christina Mandrell, from Season 27 of "The Bachelor." Bowers shared, "For the first time in my life, I feel like I found someone that I can be myself with unapologetically. And I have no doubts that I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Mandrell said yes, and people have thoughts.

People are sounding off on social media with their thoughts about the unexpected proposal. Some viewers at home were completely taken aback. One person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Well this wasn't on my bingo card."  Another said, "A PROPOSAL... from BRAYDEN of all people omg??? HOW LONG have they been dating!? Bowers and Mandrell, and the production team, may have been expecting congratulations with the official "Golden Bachelor" Instagram post about their engagement, but instead, more people called them out. 

Host Jesse Palmer confirmed on-air that Brayden Bowers called Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist to get their blessing to propose to Christina Mandrell before their wedding, and since he went ahead with it, we can assume that they said yes. But that wasn't enough for some viewers.

Another viewer shared, "I don't care if they got permission to do [so]. It was tacky and tasteless to even ask if you COULD do it." Others agreed. "The fact that he asked for their blessing made it even worse [because] it shows that despite having any other day, he still wanted his 5 minutes of fame on their special day," one user quipped. "It's a leap year for crying out loud, you have an EXTRA day to propose this year homie". Then some thought it was probably something cooked up by the producers of the show. "People talk like it was their idea. I would bet money production convinced them it was a good idea for views. I hope they got the ring for free anyways!" another viewer shared. No details yet on her ring.

However, for some, Bowers' surprise proposal to Mandrell was romantic. "Perfect and cute for each other ... you both are adorable together. Please stay together." a fan wrote. Only time will tell if the newly engaged couple gets their fairytale wedding like Turner and Nist, but we hope it goes more smoothly than the reception to their engagement.