‘The Golden Bachelor’ Paid Touching Tribute To Ellen Goltzer’s BFF Roberta Zaktzer

When Jimmy Kimmel’s hilarious Aunt Chippy appeared during the final scene of The Golden Bachelor premiere , I was sure our tears were finished for the night. But the delightful end credits bit was followed by an unexpected, incredibly touching tribute card that read, “This season is dedicated in loving memory to Roberta Zaktzer.”

Who is Roberta Zaktzer? Well, the tribute card also featured a photo of Roberta and Golden Bachelor contestant Ellen Goltzer, who mentioned her late bestie to Gerry Turner and cameras several times throughout the premiere.

When Ellen stepped foot out of the limo to meet the man of the hour, the first words out of her mouth were, “ROBERTA, WE MADE IT!” Gerry replied, “Dare I ask who is Roberta?” And Ellen explained Roberta was her longtime best friend of 60 years who had cancer. “It’s been difficult,” Ellen said as photos and video of her and Roberta covered the screen. Ellen also explained that she and Roberta were big fans of the Bachelor franchise, so when The Golden Bachelor was announced Roberta encouraged her to embark on the journey for both of them.

During her one-on-one time with Gerry, Ellen brought up Roberta again — specifically her inspiring motto: “Never say never.” Ellen’s optimism impressed Gerry, who told her, “You have my attention.” An ecstatic Ellen later told cameras she was having “the best day of my life in so long,” before screaming, “ROBERTA, HE’S A HUNK!”

Ellen and Roberta’s friendship played a wonderful part in the Golden Bachelor premiere, but sadly the tribute card revealed Roberta passed away in 2023, some time after the episode filmed. Ellen shared a photo of show’s touching closing message on Instagram alongside the caption, “True friendship is forever.”

Back on September 6, 2023, Ellen shared another photo of her and Roberta to Instagram, along with a sweet message about her to followers.

“Hi. I want to tell you about my best friend Roberta for 60 years. Good times and bad, happy and sad, it’s a friendship that will last a lifetime,” she wrote. “We watched The Bachelor together from the very beginning. She convinced me to apply for the Golden Bachelor and here I am because of her. She’s going through some difficult times now and I want her to know that true friendship is precious. Thank you Roberta. I’m here because you believed in me and and I believe in you too. Love you bestie!”

It’s also worth noting that Ellen received a rose on Night 1, which means we thankfully haven’t seen the last of her (or Roberta’s) emotional Golden Bachelor journey.

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