Fans Want To See This Newly Single Senior In A Bachelor Nation Show

Bill Gates and his longtime wife Melinda shocked the nation this week when they announced that they were going their separate ways. The couple, who were married for 27 years, shared the news of their split via a joint statement posted to their social media accounts, per CNN.

"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives," the statement said. "We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life," the messages concluded.

Melinda filed for divorce on Monday. The documents asked for a divorce on the grounds of the couple's separation contract. However, no details about money or assets were provided in the public docs. The couple met when Melinda came to work as a product manager at Bill's company, Microsoft. They married in 1994. According to Forbes, Bill ranks as the fourth wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $124 billion. Now, fans are calling for the newly single billionaire to find love on television.

Screen Rant reports that as soon as fans heard about Bill Gates' divorce they began to speculate about what his next move would be, both in his love life and his career. In 2020, ABC revealed that they were casting a "Bachelor"-style dating series for seniors, and many fans are already calling for Bill to be the leading man. One Reddit user even created a poster for the would-be show, using the tag line "a billion ways to fall in love." If Bill were to sign on for such a show, the ratings would likely be through the roof. Even though he's now single, the billionaire isn't likely to entertain the idea of reality TV. He's far too busy running his company. In addition, the applicants would likely be there for all the wrong reasons, thanks to Bill's enormous wealth.

This isn't the first time that fans have called for a celebrity to be the next star of "The Bachelor" or "Bachelorette." It's become common for Twitter to explode after a big star announces their single status. However, it seems that fans will have to stick with the current status quo for the series, which has previously cast leads such as Matt James, Nick Viall, Ben Higgins, Tayshia Adams, Rachel Lindsay, and Becca Kufrin (via PureWow). While it's fun to fantasize about a well-known personality becoming the next "Bachelor," it's simply a long shot.