‘Golden Bachelor’ Contestant Claims Four Seasons Singer Was Her Lover for Decades
April Kirkwood
April Kirkwood, one of Gerry Turner’s beautiful senior contestants on The Golden Bachelor, is allegedly no stranger to celebrity.
The blonde, now 65, has claimed that she had a long-term affair with famed Four Seasons singer Frankie Valli!
Viewers of the ABC reality show saw April get significant camera time on The Golden Bachelor premiere. She got less time in Week 2 but still left with a rose.
April seemed funny and down-to-earth during her introductory TV package. The therapist from Port St. Lucie, Fla. said she grew up on a chicken farm in Ohio and joked to cameras as she tended the birds, “My eggs are still very fresh.”
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April stole the spotlight by clucking like a chicken on Gerry’s premiere.
But seriously, she said, “I am 65 and I hate saying that because aging sucks.”
ABC
She added in confessional, “I really want to be madly in love because I had it before. Actually, I’ve been blessed, though, I’ve had three men who really, really loved me.”
Was one of them “Walk Like a Man” singer Frankie Valli?
In 2015, The New York Post covered April’s salacious memoir, Big Girls Do Cry: My Love Affair with Frankie Valli.
April wrote that she began seeing Valli as a child, attending his shows with her mother and aunt. The family allegedly sneaked backstage to meet the musician and they all became friends.
Related: Who Does Gerry Pick on The Golden Bachelor?
Years later, April alleged, she lost her virginity to Frankie in a hotel room.
She wrote, “That first night was sad. I had never seen a naked man before. I was like, 'Oh, my God. What did I just do?'"
After having sex with Valli, April claims he told her, "Now don't do this with anyone else."
He then allegedly told her it was late and she should go home.
But according to April’s book, it was just the start of a decades-long relationship.
She wrote that she followed Valli to different cities on his concert schedule.
As her Amazon book synopsis noted, “In the tradition of scandalous tell-all's by rock groupie loyalty like Bebe Buell, Pamela des Barres and Pattie Floyd comes a feisty and fun new voice: April Kirkwood. Our intrepid narrator is a sassy blonde Ohioan, a fun-loving flirt with a love of music and Italian men. And she has one of the craziest stories in Four Seasons history.”
But it was painful for April, as she claimed she felt used during the alleged affair, the New York Post reported.
Bobby Bank/Getty Images
April, whose parents divorced when she was 4, claimed of Valli, “I was his Ohio groupie, his hookup, his lay on the road.”
She contended Valli would have her meet him at hotels in such cities as Akron, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Syracuse while he was on his concert tours.
April has displayed photos of herself at various times of her life with Valli.
“He was so glamorous to me, I think I could’ve met up with him at McDonald’s,” April said.
She claimed from then on, she was attracted to guys who reminded her of Valli. April got married and divorced twice and saw those men as “substitutes for Mr. Valli.”
Ultimately, the affair allegedly ended after Valli, now 89, stopped calling her.
As Parade reported, Valli recently got married for the fourth time—to his longtime love Jackie Jacobs, 60.
And April is pursuing another famous man, handsome and sincere Golden Bachelor Gerry!
ABC
April told the cameras on the premiere, “I like somebody who is playful and who keeps me on my toes.”
Talking about the show process, she noted, “At the end of the day, you want something and you go for it. And how far will you go to get what you want?”
April walked into the Golden Bachelor mansion with an Easter basket full of eggs, to the amusement of other competitors.
Although she seems unconventional, April is also an accomplished professional. As her hometown website TCPalm noted, April worked as a guidance counselor at a K-8 school.
She holds master's degrees in school and community counseling from Youngstown State University in Ohio.
April received roses from Indiana widower Gerry in Weeks 1 and 2 and advanced to Week 3 of The Golden Bachelor.
But now fans may wonder, will he live up to her memories of Jersey Boy Frankie Valli?
