Jonathan Rone Addresses Whether He’d Be the Golden Bachelor Now That He’s Single

Jonathan Rone is not shutting the door on the possibility of being the next Golden Bachelor after his recent split.

“As the saying goes, ‘Love is not for the faint in heart.’ Through this whole journey that I’ve been through, the ups and the downs, and where I’m at right now, it’s like, I don’t want to say that I’m out, like, searching, like, looking. I look at it as something that will organically happen when it happens,” Jonathan, 62, said on the Tuesday, March 25, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast. “There’s a lot that I’ve taken in, a lot that I’ve processed, a lot that I’ve learned about myself, and I’m at a pretty good spot right now.”

He continued, “Organically, if something happens, whether that’s a call from national TV and saying, ‘Hey would you like to be the Golden Bachelor?’ I mean, that would be an organic thing for me to say, ‘Well, I didn’t expect that I would get that call.’ But if that happened, or if I met someone on the street, or something like that, my heart is open and I always lead with authenticity. And so, just however it rolls, it rolls.”

Bachelor Nation met Jonathan when he vied for the affections of Joan Vassos on The Golden Bachelorette season 1, which aired in 2024.

“The fact that I was even on The Golden Bachelorette is a crazy thing that happened. I mean, that was just something that just happened out of the blue and totally least expected,” he said. “I just look at it as a blessing, and so I’m just taking it one day at a time.”

After not finding The One in Joan, Jonathan revealed at the Men Tell All episode of the Golden spinoff that he was dating someone new. (Joan ended her season engaged to Chock Chapple.)

“I just wanted to say thank you for the opportunity,” Jonathan told Joan in the November 2024 episode. “I mean, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have started the journey if it wasn’t because of you. And so I just kind of wanted to give an update that on this journey that I have met someone and the most important thing about that is that I’m happy.”

Days later, Jonathan opened up about his connection with girlfriend Michelle Zimmermann. “‘So I Dropped The Bomb’ … I started my journey looking for love, a love that is a forever love. A love I thought I once had but this was my second chance! So, I went all in with no walls to protect my vulnerability! I had no other intentions than that!” he wrote via Instagram. “This journey can be full of expectations but the unexpected happened and ‘The Bomb’ is the second chance I’ve been looking for! I am so grateful for all of the support and kind words from all you in the Bachelor Nation! I’m happy to say that Michelle is truly ‘My Bomb❤️.’”

Jonathan revealed in February that he and Michelle had called it quits. “It was fun, it was fast and it just didn’t last,” he said via Instagram, adding that he’s “grateful for all of the experiences” he shared with her.