Mere weeks before The Golden Bachelor contestant Ellen Goltzer was set to turn up at the famed Bachelor Mansion, she wasn't sure if she could face Gerry Turner.
"I never told anybody this," the 71-year-old revealed on the Dec. 22 episode of The Ben & Ashley I Almost Famous podcast. "I developed an abscess on my cheek, and it was three weeks before I was supposed to go."
Noting, "it was really like a golf ball," the mass wasn't exactly the dramatic entrance the retired teacher was hoping to make. "I knew I wasn't going to go," she said. "That's how bad it was."
But that's what friends (and top-notch doctors) are for.
Ellen's late friend Roberta Zaktzer "kept motivating me," she said of her lifelong bestie and fellow Bachelor Nation fan who succumbed to cancer before the series began airing in September. And after an emergency trip to see her doctor in New York, the Florida resident was boarding a flight to California, confident that everything had "cleared up enough to cover it with makeup."
As for Roberta, she "kept saying to me the whole time—that's where I get this from—never say never."
Ultimately, Ellen's love story with Roberta proved to be more enduring than her romance with Gerry, who eliminated the potential bride ahead of hometown dates.
"There was something about Roberta, it was a true honest to goodness sister friendship. It really was," Ellen shared on the podcast. "If anybody's ever lucky enough to have something like that, they are blessed."
Because who needs a final rose when you've got a bestie nudging you into the journey of a lifetime?
"I think she knew that it was something I needed," Ellen told E! News in October of Roberta urging her to go for the gold. "I think she would be so super proud of me that I let loose and really showed people who I was and my feelings inside, because sometimes I don't do that."
And Ellen, who's still living in the condo she once shared with Roberta, is happy she fully seized the golden opportunity.
"Well, I've always known that I wear my heart on my sleeve," she explained of telling the retired restauranteur that she was falling in love with him. "And I like to verbalize my feelings. It was hard to hold it in."
Proving she was fully there for those much-discussed right reasons, she took the leap early on. "I feel that if you don't give it a chance and tell someone exactly how you're feeling, then you lose your opportunity," she added. "So, it was my chance to convey those feelings to him. And I have no regrets about that at all."
"I'm not sorry that I opened up," Ellen continued. "No, not at all. I will continue to do that."
Particularly should she be chosen as the franchise's inaugural Golden Bachelorette.
While the sweet pickleball enthusiast is certainly in the running to hand out the gilded blooms, she's hardly the only one interested in accepting ABC's rose.
"Let me just say this to you so you don't have to ask it again with everyone that comes up," the always refreshing frank Kathy Noles told E! News at the season's Women Tell All special, "everyone would want to be the Golden Bachelorette."
And though we would 100 percent watch that season, pint of ice cream in hand, should producers opt for just one lead, here are their options.
Leslie Fhima
The Minneapolis-based personal trainer—who said she is the inspiration behind Prince's "Sexy Dancer"—was left devastated when Gerry Turner chose to propose to Theresa Nist in The Golden Bachelor's finale...after telling Leslie she was "the one" during their fantasy suite date.
“The other night, you made it sound like you chose me,” she told Gerry. “You said things to me that made me think that this was going to be it. You led me down a path and then you took a turn and left me there and that’s how I feel. It’s mind-boggling, to be honest, how you can talk to me all night, tell me you love me and then one day—not even a day, 12 hours later—you changed your mind."
Now that sounds like a Bachelorette, no?
And during the live special, Leslie explained to host Jesse Palmer that she felt "blindsided" and had "100 percent certainty" that she was going to be engaged to Gerry. So, if anyone deserves a second chance at televised love, it might just be Leslie.
Faith Martin
After receiving the First Impression Rose from Gerry, Faith became the early frontrunner to be his final pick.
So, it was devastating when Gerry eliminated her after the hometown visits, where he told Faith he was in love with her in front of her family.
While the high school teacher is still processing the breakup, she told E! News she's more optimistic about finding love after her time on the show.
"I'm going to still need a minute before I go out there and do that," Faith told E! News at the Women Tell All taping. "I'm just not sure how I would navigate dating. I haven't had a lot of luck in the past. But I feel like I'm hopeful about the future for sure, more so than I ever have been about what I would look for. It's different than what maybe I used to look for."
And she would be willing to search for it as ABC's first Golden Bachelorette, should the network decide to do another spinoff.
"I would love to find out more about it," the 60-year-old said. "I mean, to have 25 men to choose from? I would have to say yes, I think."
Ellen Goltzer
Fans were just as devastated as Ellen—the first to tell the Bachelor she was falling in love—when Gerry said goodbye to the retired teacher before hometowns.
While Bachelor Nation is rooting for Ellen to be the next lead, she told E! News she is trying to stay present.
"I don't want to think about anything in the future," the 71-year-old explained. "I just want to enjoy this moment and we'll think about that tomorrow, like they said in Gone With the Wind. I'm just really taking it all in right now and enjoying it."
But Ellen is rooting for the Golden Bachelorette to happen, whether or not she is a part of it, "because then it shows that it was successful," she said, "and that people are looking for it and people want to see it. And that, to me, is the most exciting part of it."
So while she would likely accept ABC’s rose, "Regardless of who it is, it means that the public wants more. And that to me is very flattering in itself."
Joan Vassos
After making the difficult decision to self-eliminate when her daughter was suffering from postpartum depression, the private school administrator shared that she is willing to look for love on TV again.
"I would be open to it," Joan, 60, said. "I believe in the process. Oddly, I kind of came into this as a little bit skeptical and I see how it worked. It's like speed dating on steroids. And people find love on the show and I want to find love still."
Sandra Mason
Aside from her memorable expletive-laced limo exit, Sandra made headlines when she revealed she missed her daughter's wedding to vie for Gerry's love. So, yeah, she's serious about finding love and would love to do so as the Bachelorette.
"Well, I think Sandra would be a great fit," the retired executive assistant cheekily told E! News when asked for her pick, "so the answer's emphatically yes."
However, if she doesn't receive ABC's golden rose, the 75-year-old, revealed, "I also think Edith would be a great Bachelorette."
Kathy Swarts
The retired education consultant had no plans to zip it when it came to her thoughts on being the Golden Bachelorette.
“I don't think they could find 22 guys who could keep up with me, so there's that," Kathy, 70, told E! News. "But who wouldn't want to be? I mean, the chance to find love, the chance to meet great people. Who wouldn't want that?"
Susan Noles
A wedding officiant, a hair stylist and the mansion's resident chef (The key is garlic!), Susan was a scene-stealer thoughout her run on The Golden Bachelor.
And Susan told us she would "love" to be the next lead, especially after she failed to find a romantic connection with Gerry. Still, she was more than happy to leave with 21 new friends.
"We came out to find love and I didn't," the 66-year-old said. "I got friendship. But I want a man. So yes, they should give us another chance."
Natascha Hardee
Though she didn't find a lasting connection with Gerry, the pro-aging coach is rooting for the franchise to do another season, with Natascha telling E! News, "I would love for them to do a Golden Bachelorette."
As for who it should be? The 60-year-old said, "I feel like Bachelor Nation should decide on who the next Golden Bachelorette is."
For now, Natascha is just basking in the positive response The Golden Bachelor has received.
"My niece told me, 'Enjoy the moment, Natasha, where you are. Don't think about the future. Enjoy now,'" she shared. "And I've been taking that in since she said that."
April Lynn Kirkwood
One of the more eccentric contestants, April's most notable moment was faking an ankle injury during the pickleball group date to score extra time with Gerry. (That knowing wink!)
Alas, the retired therapist was eliminated in week four, but we think the 64-year-old would make for an unpredictable and fun lead.