‘Bachelor’ Alum Matt James Reacts to Mom Patty Competing on ‘The Golden Bachelor’

The Bachelor alum Matt James is sharing his support for his mom, Patty Cuculo James, on her journey to compete for the affections of Gerry Turner, the first-ever lead on ABC’s The Golden Bachelor.

Among the 22 women revealed Wednesday as they get set to vie for Turner’s final rose is Cuculo James, 70, who was featured on The Bachelor’s season 25 that aired in 2021 with her son as the star. Matt James, who was the franchise’s first Black Bachelor, is still dating Rachael Kirkconnell, the recipient of his own final rose, and he appears hopeful that the franchise will cause romance to blossom for his mom as well.

“I ccc uuu mama,” James posted to his Instagram Stories on Wednesday, along with his mom’s photo from her show bio. He also added a heart-on-fire emoji.

For her part, Cuculo James posted promotional images of herself from The Golden Bachelor to her Instagram account, along with the caption, “Sooo exciting…”

Her show bio describes Cuculo James as a retired real estate professional from Durham, North Carolina, who has been single for nearly 30 years. (She raised Matt and his older brother, John, after she and their father, Manny, split up when the boys were young.)

“I want to meet someone who loves and cherishes me that I can live out my golden years with,” Cuculo James says in a quote from her show page.

She also makes a brief appearance in a new promo for The Golden Bachelor released Wednesday, in which she says, “I’m looking for someone that cares about family like I do.”

Turner, 72, is a retired restaurateur from Indiana who has two daughters and two granddaughters. He was married for 43 years to his high school sweetheart, Toni, who passed away in 2017 following a bacterial infection. The contestants on his show, which launches Sept. 28 following the season nine premiere of Bachelor in Paradise, range in age from 60 to 75.

“What I look for at the age of 70 is different from what I looked for in high school and college,” Turner explained during an appearance on the “Men Tell All” special from Charity Lawson’s recently completed season of The Bachelorette. “So, I believe I’ll find my person — the new person that will make me whole again. And I think we’ll knit a wonderful relationship. But I don’t think it’ll look like the relationship I had with Toni. And I don’t think it would be right to do it that way.”