Former 'Golden Bachelorette' contestant Charles Ling discusses snoring in the mansion and a return to TV

Charles Ling is "back to normal life" in Malvern following a whirlwind journey as a contestant on the premiere season of ABC's "The Golden Bachelorette." But can Bachelor Nation's newest sweetheart really expect to go about business as usual after capturing America's hearts?

"Many people now stop me here and there," Ling said last week.

RELATED: Malvern's Charles Ling says being on 'Golden Bachelorette' was the 'turning point' in his life

"Charlesmania," as "Bachelor" franchise host Jesse Palmer calls it, has been sweeping the nation since the September premiere of "The Golden Bachelorette," with fans campaigning online to see more of Ling in the franchise and calling for him to be the next "Golden Bachelor."

Ling, a 66-year-old retired data analyst and father of two, grew up in China and moved to the United States with only $20 in his pocket. After spending time in Boston, he moved to Philly in the '90s, attending graduate school at Temple University. He had a long and loving relationship with his wife, who he described on the show as his "first and only love," but she died suddenly six years ago and he had been lonely ever since. That is, until his daughter Sophia encouraged him to embark on the unconventional journey of finding love on TV, joining the 57-and-older cast of bachelors vying for lead Joan Vassos' heart.

Ling piqued viewers' interests from the premiere episode, in which he wandered the Bachelor Mansion, where the contestants stay, and ogled its opulence. He bonded with Vassos — who also lost her spouse — from night one, often reminding her that she's in charge of the process, using a cheeky reference to the '80s sitcom "Charles in Charge" that he believed would bridge the gap between cultures.

"The first night, I look back, it seems like I did pretty well when I met Joan," Ling said. "I was saying, What am I going to discuss with her? We were only given, like, two minutes also. So mentally, I went through several versions. So at last I chose the version saying 'Charles is not in charge.' That conversation, I think it probably shortened the distance with American people." 

Things didn't work out romantically with Vassos, who sent Ling home in an episode that aired in October and went on to get engaged to Kansas native Chock Chapple. But Ling told Vassos at the Men Tell All reunion, which aired earlier this month and saw Ling sporting a stylish new hairstyle, that meeting her was a "turning point" in his life.

During his time on the show, Ling said he found a "different form of love" with his fellow "Mansion Men" through the unique group dates they shared, bonding together as he helped lead his team to victory in a kickball tournament, danced the night away at "prom," and was taught how to body roll by Chippendale dancers during a charity performance. 

"I really enjoyed every single minute when I look at it back," Ling said.

They also shared deeper, poignant moments, like when Ling got some much-needed closure by asking Guy Gansert, an emergency department doctor who went on to become Vassos' runner-up, a question that had been nagging him about his wife's death from a brain aneurysm.

While "The Golden Bachelorette" did air moments of the men cooking together at the mansion, Ling noted some of his favorite times spent with his buddies were the non-televised dinners that the contestants enjoyed together that were often cooked by himself and his pal Mark Anderson, who's the future father-in-law of Montgomery County-native "Bachelor" star Joey Graziadei. Ling said the golden bachelors were particularly impressed with his homemade dumplings.

That prowess in the kitchen is something Ling has in common with Delco native Susan Noles, who became a fan favorite during the premiere season of "The Golden Bachelor" last year and also had viewers campaigning for her turn to lead the Golden franchise. Ling said he had the chance to meet his fellow Pennsylvania resident and Bachelor Nation star during "The Golden Bachelorette" after the final rose earlier this month.

Sadly, Noles was not selected as the "Golden Bachelorette," but she did go on to form a partnership with QVC, launch a podcast and make several guest appearances in the "Bachelor" franchise. So what could be next for Charles, whether it's becoming the next "Golden Bachelor" or otherwise? He's not ruling anything out.

"Actually, I don't have any specific plans," he said. "Sophia is now kind of behind me as my mentor, in a sense. But if anything pops up, and if it's reasonable, and if I can handle it and anticipate there might be a good cause, sure why not? So I would say, play it by ear. I mean this ('Golden Bachelorette') experience definitely helps. I look forward to any kind of show, if it's relevant."

In his conversation with PhillyVoice on Thursday, Ling also discusses where he's lived in the Philly suburbs, his least favorite part of the Bachelor Mansion, and why he believes he resonated with "Golden Bachelorette" viewers. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

PhillyVoice: What have you been up to since the show?

Charles Ling: It seems like back to normal after the finale, and now it's just kind of a routine: work, at home, at the gym, reading; pretty much back to normal life in a sense.

PV: How long have you been living in the Philly region?

Ling: I came to Philadelphia from Boston, I think somewhere around '98 if I recall correctly, and I studied at Temple, then found different jobs, and we never moved to another place. So Philadelphia for a little bit, then Drexel Hill, then moved to Broomall, then to my current address in Malvern. We are pretty traditional in a way because we've been pretty happy with where we stayed and with our jobs and the kids, it seems like they like where they are. So we didn't move at all (away from the Philly region). It's been pretty lengthy.

PV: What did you study at Temple?

Ling: Different areas, mass communication. I also taught, at the same time I was a graduate student, public speaking and interpersonal communications. And I also studied finance, and picked up computers here and there, picked up some statistics. A good part when you are in graduate school, you are able to take many courses you want to. So I really enjoyed it.

PV: With you saying you taught during grad school, I feel like that makes sense given you were so great at talking on camera. Did you have to talk in front of a lot of people during your career? 

Ling: When I was in college back in China ... I was surrounded with a lot of mass media students, so I was kind of influenced here and there. And maybe that's my personality, you know, speaking seems pretty easy. And when I was at the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company, I did a lot of presentations. Sometimes you talk to a few hundred people in the audience. So it's just a lot of training or experience that helped me. Plus, this time, the people surrounding me, the staff, producers and my 24 Mansion Men, including Joan, we get along so well. And it was very, very easy.

PV: How did you become involved with the show?

Ling: The starting point is my baby daughter. She was here and one night she showed me "The Golden Bachelor" from last year. I barely watched this before. I heard that there's a kind of a "Bachelor" program, but I think it's surrounded by the youngsters, you know? So she said that probably you should apply. We talked a little bit, and she said, you'll be fine. I said, Well, I doubt I'll be enrolled into the program to begin. She said, Well, you don't know until you try it. So I applied. I think the next day, or the in two days, the phone rang and they started a conversation, then it's a pretty lengthy interview process. A lot of things here in life, you know, it just happens. And this time, without much thinking or reaction, it was just a flow, like the weather, snow, pouring in and it comes and you deal with it. But this time, it's pretty good.

PV: From the first week you were gaining fans and going viral, especially for the clips of you admiring Bachelor Mansion. What was it like seeing and exploring the mansion for the first time?

Ling: Of course, we were very excited, and it was huge and well decorated. Everything was perfect; mostly the first floor. The first night, I was really, really impressed by the kitchen. And I said, wow, we're going to be here for a few weeks, if I survive that long. Then upstairs, I hate to say, I was not that impressed in a sense because the Mansion Men have to share the rooms. Through the show, the snoring was an issue, and the second is the bunk beds. We still couldn't figure out why bunk beds were provided, but maybe that's the way it is. And other than that, there's a lot of rooms. We can walk around in the early morning, and we enjoyed a huge pool there. And guess what? I was there in California many years ago, but very briefly. I never realized California is so pretty. Nice views with those little mountains. And one day, we had a gorgeous lunch near the ocean. So both the mansion and the surrounding areas are very, very nice.

PV: You had so many fun group dates on the show, from kickball to prom to a Chippendale dance performance. Did you have a favorite experience?

Ling: I was so excited. Actually, all the group activities, they are kind of parallel at the top. For me, it seemed like all the activities were so unique. I'll just share a little secret. They don't tell you what's going to happen tomorrow until the last minute. This announcement came in, for example, about the prom date. In my life, I never had a chance to attend the prom at all due to historical reasons. So it was a shock, and I enjoyed it. Talking about kickball, that's another thing. I know a tiny bit about baseball. They are very similar, even though they are different. I was very, very nervous because we didn't want to lose, you know? I said, well, if our group loses, definitely, mentally, they may blame Charles because I didn't have much experience. And unfortunately, quite a few of them really hurt themselves because they didn't prepare enough. Yet the happy part is I was the only one that didn't get hurt at all. And I was the only one who ran very, very fast on the field. And the (Chippendale) dance part, when we saw those professional dancers, kind of intimidating. I said, Wow, how can I do this? Quite a few of us whispered, Can we run away? But we were there for a good cause, and the audience was there. So we put our efforts. All those activities turned out to be great. 

PV: It's fun to hear about what went on behind the scenes!

Ling: To add to one thing, due to the hours limitation on the show, actually, the Mansion Men, we really shared a lot of (unaired) hours in the kitchen, cooking together, enjoying food. ... Mark (Anderson) and I, literally, we were the main chefs. We made a lot of stuff. And they said, Charles, we want to eat this, we want to eat that. Once I made about eight or 10 dishes with the help of my friends. It was a great, great dinner. 

PV: What did you make?

Ling: We cooked pork, vegetables, dumplings I made from scratch. So people were so curious and would say, Charles, how can you make that? I said, Well, once you know how to do it, it's not that difficult. I wish they would have shown it on TV. Maybe there's a copyright involved. I'm just kidding.

PV: Why do you think so many fans connected with you and were rooting for you this season?

Ling: I should give some credit to Sophia, my daughter. She said, Daddy, you just be yourself. I couldn't watch when I was traveling when the program was on air, yet, I think the audience, they just want another type of show where they see real people. They want to see the real people, without makeup. And they want to see people talking without scripts. And they want to see people, the way they behave, particularly for this group. We are in the later 60s for some of us. And some people, probably, they sit at home. They just want to relax, lie down on the couch. Whereas, this group of 24 men, wow, they are so energetic. And maybe (viewers) might say, Wow, Charles was not born here. However, we still can understand him very well. Not only that, sometimes he bring us some laughter as well. Also, to speak in the public is not a big deal for me. So that's why I think the first day I impressed (host Jesse Palmer). Sometimes when people would get a little bit tired, they would say, Charles, could you share with us a joke? Then I tell them a joke. And some people, I think they see a real person in his 60s, with a different background, from another culture, and yet, you know, he's kind of mingled together with a new culture. And without any friendship before, yet, together with the rest of the 24 people, including Joan, I can get along very well. 

PV: Do you still talk to your friends from the show?

Ling: Oh yeah, quite often. We have an iMessage group. Also, hopefully one day we're gonna plan a trip together. That'll be lovely. We are spread all over the country. If anyone stops by in my area, definitely the first thing they would do is just ring me up and stop by my house. It's not a mansion, but I would definitely entertain them with different new dishes.