Golden Bachelor host Jesse Palmer details set secrets - from kitchen smells to the drama

“Are we going to take naps? Is this going to be over by midnight? Are there going to be fantasy suites – do I have ‘that talk’ with them?” 

These are questions that Bachelor franchise host Jesse Palmer had going into filming The Golden Bachelor, the franchise’s newest spinoff slated to give older men and women another shot at love.

The series debuted last week with 72-year-old Bachelor Gerry Turner – a retired restaurateur who lost his wife of 43 years, Toni, six years ago — meeting nearly two dozen women at the show’s Beverly Hills mansion.

“I think we were all kind of learning as we were going,” Palmer said on the franchise’s Bachelor Happy Hour podcast. “He was so ready for this. He’s experienced unbelievably tragedy and loss in his life, and he’s ready for this opportunity to find his person.”

Jesse added: “The women are amazing, and you’re going to see that night one. I knew right away as soon these women got out of the limo, I was like, ‘This is a homerun. These women are awesome.’”

Jesse Palmer gave the whole scoop to newly wed couple Serena Pitt and Joe Amabile – who met on the beaches of Paradise – on the franchise’s Bachelor Happy Hour podcast.

Read more: Golden Bachelor storms off set and fumes 'I'm done' in explosive teaser

‘Gerry’s a rockstar’ who always ‘hits the nail on the head,’ Jesse says

“The magic behind it [is] the people,” Jesse said on the podcast. “Gerry’s a rockstar.”

Jesse went on to describe the first-ever Golden Bachelor as an “amazing,” “sweet guy" who is “knowledgeable," “emotionally intelligent,” and “good with his words.”

“He’s the best I’ve ever seen since I’ve been hosting at walking in the room before a rose ceremony and addressing the ladies,” Jesse admits. 

The women are ‘so confident’ and ‘crushed it,’ Jesse says

Jesse shares that during the past two years while hosting the franchise’s shows, he saw contestants get incredibly nervous on night one. But not these women.

“Every other show I’ve hosted, I watched people get out of the limo night one, they get to the mansion, they’re freaking out, rightfully so,” he shares. “There’s cameras everywhere… you forget what you’re gonna say when you walk up to the person, you forget your name… you might have to do it again, get another take.”

However, he says: “Every single one of these women came out of the limo, guys, they crushed it. So confident, so confident.” 

He adds about the women: “They were rolling up, they had their spiel, they had their shtick, they said what they wanted to say, they were flirty.”

‘The kitchen smelled amazing,’ Jesse says

Unlike previous seasons of the Bachelor and Bachelorette, where contestants were “hungover” and it “smelled like burnt eggs and mimosas,” Jesse said the Beverly Hills mansion’s kitchen never smelled better.

“First off, walking in the house, the kitchen smelled amazing,” he said. “It was the best the kitchen ever smelled. These women were cooking up a feast, and they were all helping each other.”

The contestants are ‘loving and nurturing’ women with ‘kids and grandkids,’ Jesse says

Jesse said seeing the women around the house felt like watching Italian nonnas chit chat and cook.

“It was a completely different vibe to it,” he shared. “It’s just loving and nurturing women who have kids – a lot of them have grandkids – that’s just who they are.”

When it comes to drama, Jesse says there will be ‘themes’ that fans are ‘very familiar with’

Jesse said he went in thinking 72-year-old women wouldn’t fall for the same tricks that 22-year-old women on the show typically do, but he was shocked to be proven wrong.

“I thought, ‘Surely… [the older women have] more emotional stamina to deal with this,’ but, sure enough, after a few days… stuff happens,” he said, being sparse on details.

He adds: “There will be some themes that I think people at home will be very familiar with when watching.”

Jesse says fans should ‘appreciate the wisdom that was imparted’ from the new series

Jesse said candidly reflecting on the season: “I think more than anything I’m just going to appreciate the moments I had and the advice I got.”

He added: “Normally I’m the one giving people some advice, what I think you should do in a situation… I had nothing I could tell Gerry or any of these women – on love, on intimacy, on anything.”

“They were giving me advice, and Gerry had me on the edge of my seat,” Jesse shared. “I want to have the love with Emily [his wife] that Gerry had with Tony for decades. He found that, he had that. I’d ask him.”

He concluded: “If anything, just be appreciative of some of the wisdom that was imparted from everybody, the men and women.”

The Golden Bachelor airs Thursdays on ABC, and is available the next day on Hulu.