April Dishes On The Golden Bachelor & The ASK’N Group Chat

I’d never had a member of Bachelor Nation say a blessing over me — but that’s exactly how The Golden Bachelor’s April Kirkwood ended our time together on Zoom. “Give her guidance, give her love, give her inspiration. Help her to remember her worth.”

Claiming it!

The Florida-based therapist, who went home during the Oct. 19 episode, made quite the impression during her four weeks on the show: faking a pickleball injury to win Gerry Turner’s affection; cleansing the mansion of negative energy; and gossiping with the ASK’N clique, comprised of April, Susan Noles, Kathy Swarts, and Nancy Hulkower.

But our conversation makes one thing clear: Viewers had too little time with April. Did you know a spiritual teacher in Italy told her she was a dolphin in a past incarnation? That her grandchildren say she’s “magic”? Or that her two dogs, Pooka and Paisley, are just as mystical?

Pooka hails from Ireland and is named for a creature from local folklore that “comes to your house and will tell you salacious stories,” she says. Paisley, for her part, shares a transcendental bond with her pup parents — April and her late partner, Ralph.

After Ralph’s death, April says, Paisley started having unexplained seizures that have recently relented.

“I just pray every day that there’s some healing going on and that we all heal,” April says. “When a tragedy happens, everybody’s affected.”

As for Paisley’s mom? Healing happened through The Golden Bachelor.

While things didn’t pan out with Gerry — and April has a few theories as to why (more on that later) — she’d be “honored” to continue her journey with Bachelor Nation. As of Oct. 23, ABC hasn’t confirmed any spinoffs, but fans are clamoring for iterations like The Golden Bachelorette or Golden Bachelor in Paradise. And they’re not alone.

“I bug the producers all the time. I said, ‘I’ll be there in a second,’” April says. “I have the clothes, I’m exercising, I’m working on my butt, I’m working on everything. Things are sagging, I’m lifting. ... I’m ready to find love.”

Below, April opens up about her Golden Bachelor girl group, being a Swiftie, and why Gerry wasn’t the one.

ASK’N might be my favorite thing to ever come out of Bachelor Nation. Is there a group chat?

We talk to each other an average of four times a day. It’s getting to be a little codependent. I’m the calm one. I’m like the fairy godmother of the group. I try not to read social media, because I want to stay focused on myself. But sometimes Kathy will read something, and she’s hysterical. Or Susan will crack jokes. So yeah, we talk all the time.

You said in your Golden Bachelor bio that you love dancing to Taylor Swift. Is there a specific song that sums up your connection with Gerry?

“Look What You Made Me Do.” I am very strong, probably too strong for Gerry. Everyone has a type, a basket in their mind of little check-offs. And when those check-offs go off, and the dopamine and pheromones go off, you lose common sense and you’re just in love. It’s a wild ride.

I also saw that you’re a Bridgerton fan. Did you notice any similarities between that show and The Golden Bachelor?

The strength of the women. I liked that we talked to each other — and behind closed doors, the ASK’N group, we were always talking about, What should we do now? I was always getting in trouble at night. This was healing for me because I had never really gone away to college, because my mother had a lot of mental health issues.

So to me, it was like being a freshman in college. I had people in the hall, I called them RAs, and they’d say, “Hey, you girls need to be quiet.” And then I’d start dancing all over again.

So yeah, I liked the strength of the women. As for Gerry, I don’t know if he loved the strength. He would say, “I love a strong woman.” [But] I didn’t feel that he did. You know what I mean? I felt that he was like, Whoa, too much for me.

Yeah, there are a lot of personalities.

Right. And I’m not upset. I hope Gerry is very happy. I hope he finds his way. I hope I find my way. I’m too focused on making my days wonderful to be negative for anyone else. And when I do slip into that, I stop myself and say three things that I’m grateful for. I could never be grateful enough for Bachelor Nation, for what they’ve done for me. They’ve healed me so much, and I owe them everything.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.