Nancy Hulkower, Kathy Swarts, Susan Noles, April Kirkwood, Joey Graziadei Disney/John Fleenor
The Golden Bachelor alum April Kirkwood is peeling back the layers on the alleged feud between her fellow “ASKN” members.
“I feel like they were upset. I don’t know who was doing it,” April, 67, claimed on the Thursday, February 13, episode of the “She’s All Bach” podcast. “I know [the social media messages] came from Texas, and I only know so many people who live in Texas.”
April revealed via Instagram in January 2024 that she was unable to make the foursome’s trip — ASKN also included Susan Noles, Kathy Swarts and Nancy Hulkower — to St. Martin because of work and family obligations. She then allegedly received a handful of messages asking “why [she] was doing this” to the group.
“I think giving them the benefit of the doubt now and stepping back, they took it personally that I rejected them,” she said on Thursday. “I did reject that, but I had a lot going on at the time, as well. I had some house issues, I had a job and they were already fed up with me from being gone so much. And then, it was a money issue [regarding the cost of the vacation].”
Disney/Eric McCandless Golden Bachelor alum Kathy Swarts is dodging questions about the apparent ASKN fallout, hinting that “natural selection” took hold of their friend group. “We were a group of fearless women who took this on, and the fact remains — we’re all women,” Kathy, 70, said during the Thursday, February 8, episode of the […]
April added, “I had to just make a value statement and it just didn’t feel right for me. I’m really not a heavy drinker [or] a heavy partier like on some of the shows.”
April connected with Susan, 67, Kathy, 71, and Nancy, 62, when they all appeared on Gerry Turner’s season of The Golden Bachelor in 2023. The quartet later reunited on Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor to host a group date ahead of their would-be Caribbean trip.
“I think it got to be obvious that there was me backing out and I think it hurt their feelings,” April said. “I would like to publicly apologize because it wasn’t personal and I was just salvaging my identity.”
She continued, “I’ve spent my whole life … trying to be authentic — and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it helps me and sometimes it hurts me. I’m not advising that for everybody.”
Susan Noles and Kathy Swarts didn’t find love with Gerry Turner, but that doesn’t mean they’re turned off by dating within Bachelor Nation. While promoting their podcast, “Bachelor Happy Hour: Golden Hour,” the Golden Bachelor alums told Us Weekly that they are interested in pursuing Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos’ castoffs after she finds The One. […]
While the remaining members of ASKN have not publicly responded to April’s claims, she did reportedly reach out directly before posting on social media.
“I did call them and tell them I was going to back out,” April alleged on the podcast. “I think you get five women [or] four women together and s—’s going to go down.”
April further hoped that the group could eventually mend their friendship.
“I could work with them anytime,” she stated. “I mean, I love them and I’m a professional. … I love Bachelor Nation and what they did for me and I would be more than happy to put my best foot forward and leave that behind and be positive.”
