Jesse Palmer wasn’t sure what to expect from the contestants on The Golden Bachelorette. “I thought it’d be a bunch of guys with their hands down their pants, looking around the mansion, trying to fix every appliance,” jokes the host.
For more than two years, Jesse has welcomed men and women to Bachelor Mansion and watched their journeys to find love, so he has a sense of what to expect from Joan Vassos’ season — and yes, the guys did fix a garbage disposal — but their vulnerability still surprised him.
“They want to fall in love with Joan, and they want to find their happily ever after with her,” says Jesse, who led the 2004 season after a career as a pro football quarterback. “But the support the men have toward one another has been very touching.”
It’s a special season for Jesse. Earlier this year, he and his wife, Emely, welcomed their first child, daughter Ella. A few months after her birth, he was on set, surrounded by dads and grandpas who were happy to share parenting tips. “They were all so sweet and generous with their advice and their time,” he says of contestants like Gary Levingston and Keith Gordon. “It was really heartwarming.”
On top of his busy schedule, Jesse is also a college football analyst for ESPN and just launched a fashion line with Fanatics called J. Palmer, a 13-piece collection of laid-back and professional essentials that subtly showcase your sports fandom.
Below, he chats about dressing for the ABC show, downtime on set, and what to expect from the rest of Joan’s season.
Congratulations on J. Palmer! Did your time on Bachelor Nation inform the collection at all?
Yeah, versatility is important. When you pack for a show like The Golden Bachelorette, you never know what you’ll need. I thought to myself, “What 13 essentials would I need on a show like this?” You have to be able to go to different situations, whether it’s at home, the office, out to the bar with the fellas, or on a date.
Have you ever helped a contestant avoid a wardrobe malfunction?
I remember a few Bachelors not being able to tie ties properly. I don’t want to put anybody on blast, but before rose ceremonies, I have been known to step in and fix a pocket square or two.
What have you learned from the guys on Joan’s season?
One of my favorite moments was on Night One, [but it] didn’t get shown. I sought out Mark [Anderson], Gary [Levingston], and Keith [Gordon] because they’re girl dads. I was picking their brains at the cocktail party about the dos and don’ts of raising a daughter.
What did they recommend?
Oh, there was how to braid hair, ponytails, what sports to put your daughters in at a young age, how strict to be. They kept telling me that it doesn’t matter if you were a dad in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, or in 2024 — a lot of the principles still apply.
Has being a dad had any surprising effects on your Bachelor or Bachelorette hosting?
As a dad, I’m still learning on the job daily, much like how I host. I consider myself already a pretty compassionate guy, but the level of compassion and empathy has gone up just a little bit because, in the back of my mind, I’m reminded that everybody is someone’s daughter or son.
I’m always curious about what downtime on set looks like.
Our producers probably get mad at this, but I’m constantly hovering. I’m always around. I’m hiding in the bushes; I’m sampling Jack [Lencioni]’s tenderloin. It’s important for me to stay abreast of everything that’s happening in every conversation. That helps when I have conversations with Joan or the guys.
What can you tease about the rest of Joan’s season?
Joan’s the star of the show, but it’s an amazing group of guys. I think back to dropping off the first date card, when I had to explain to Charles [Ling] how this works. It’s just very organic. As the season progresses, we’ll see deeper into their lives and what made them who they are. There wasn’t a day that I wasn’t laughing or trying to hang out with as many of them as I could.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
