Love, Later

Making Space for New Romantic Relationships in Later Life

1_Introduction: Influencer Grandmas, Golden Bachelors, and the Retired Runner Nextdoor Meet Grandma Droniak. At 95 years old, she has an enviable social media following—15 million on TikTok and nearly four million on Instagram—and she uses her platforms to entertain and inform about later-life love. [1] A widow who enjoyed 48 years of marriage with her late husband, she’s since re-entered the dating world and chronicled her adventures with the help of her manager and grandson, Kevin. She wrapped up 2023—one of her spiciest relationship years yet—with a video highlighting her accomplishments: getting a new boyfriend, ghosting sub-par suitors, and dumping a dishonest man. She even discovered, when one man quit returning her calls and texts and seemed to be ghosting her, that he’d in fact died and “turned into a ghost.” [2] In her hometown of Shelton, Connecticut, she has found companions at bars, bingo nights, and even funerals, but she also turns to social media to scout for boyfriends. While she is known for her sarcasm and humour, she also chronicles the more serious side of love through moments like getting ready to attend her ex-boyfriend’s funeral. Always one to remind her followers that life is short and time is precious, she tells them that once she’s dead, she wants them to “slay while I decay.” [3] Although ‘grandfluencer’ Grandma Droniak is an exceptional figure in the world of influencers and relationship advisors—by virtue of her age, her viral popularity, and the blunt humor she uses to deliver her messages—she is not the only public figure bringing attention to new romantic relationships in later life. Now completing its second season in the United States, and its first in Australia, The Golden Bachelor—a spinoff of the long-running reality series, The Bachelor—introduces eligible women in their sixties and up to a single, sought-after man with the hope of kindling a lasting romance. And while fans of the franchise were disappointed that the series’ inaugural couple, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist, have ended up divorced and are fighting over relationship revelations in Gerry’s newly published memoir, many fans are at least thankful that the series has put later-life relationships (LLRs) on the map. Indeed, in a less sensational way than the Golden Bachelor’s ‘rose ceremonies’ (i.e., contestant elimination) and Grandma Droniak’s salty commentaries, other voicesre making space for LLRs. In one of the New York Times’ most-read “Modern Love” columns, journalist Eve…