That's the likely explanation. Row 1 is held back for Golds to select prior to about 72 hours before the flight, but they will still sell them to anyone, and allocate people into those seats on an as-needed basis once the flight comes under airport control and they need to sort out all the seating. Without details, can obviously only speak in generalities, but plans can and do change as people move to later or earlier flights, people miss connections and so on, so seating can be quite dynamic. Generally, it all works out in the end!

Try using the free tools available at Flight Availability | Upgrades | Frequent Flyer Information (expertflyer.com)

This should show you if the seats in Row 1 are actually occupied, or simply blocked out to non-Golds at the moment.

If Row 1 is unoccupied at the moment, I'd take another look at your seating options at around 70 hours before take off - the reason I say that is that some Silver or Bronze members might move themselves into Row 1 around then, as the Gold block gets removed at a little over 72 hours from departure. If they did, it would obviously free up their previous seats.