The Golden Bachelorette alum Mark Anderson asked permission from his kids before putting himself back into the dating sphere following the death of his wife.
“Having to ask them — that was before I ever went on the show, on The Golden Bachelorette — I asked them if it was OK for me to date, and then if it was OK to date on TV. Just a little larger detail there,” Mark, 58, quipped on the Friday, April 4, episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast. “They were very supportive in that. And it’s been awhile. It had been five years, or six years, actually.”
Mark’s late wife, Denise Anderson, died in 2018 after a battle with breast cancer. Years later, Mark vied for the affections of Joan Vassos on The Golden Bachelorette in 2024. Joan sent home Mark before ultimately accepting a proposal from Chock Chapple in the season 1 finale. (Bachelor Nation previously met the Anderson family when Kelsey Anderson appeared on The Bachelor season 28, where she got engaged to Joey Graziadei.)
“At the time, it was six years when I left for the show,” Mark reflected. “It had been awhile. They were supportive. We talked about it. I had not really approached that subject with them.”
When cohost Susan Noles pointed out that Mark may not have been “ready” himself, he replied, “Well, yeah, that’s it. I wasn’t really ready to talk to them about it. How do you approach that? I’m not trying to replace their mother. She could never be replaced. It’s a tough thing to approach.”
After not finding The One in Joan, Mark pursued a romance with One Tree Hill alum Barbara Alyn Woods. The pair were first spotted posing for a photo together at a Halloween party in 2024.
“We met at a Halloween party,” Mark shared on Wednesday. “It’s kind of neat. She has kids the same age as my kids. There’s a lot of similarities there.”
Mark shared that he and his girlfriend have “been able to meet up a few places,” including over Christmas — which he called a “great time” celebrating with their blended family. (Woods shares three daughters with John Lind, whom she divorced in 2024.)
“I mean there’s a big difference,” he said of his kids getting along with Woods’ children. “You know, you communicate through social media and text messaging and stuff like that. Yeah, so I’d say that there’s connections.”
