Who Is Gerry Turner’s Ex-Girlfriend? He Broke Up With Her In A Shocking Way
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Just a day before the season finale of The Golden Bachelor, Gerry Turner’s ex-girlfriend came forward about their tumultuous dating life after his wife died.
The Golden Bachelor premiered on September 28, 2023. Gerry Turner, a 71-year-old restaurant owner from Indiana, was announced as the Season 1 Golden Bachelor on Good Morning America in July 2023. “It’s never too late to fall in love again,” he said. Gerry is a father, grandfather, and widower. He married his wife and high school sweetheart, Toni, in 1974. They share two daughters, Angie and Jenny, and two granddaughters, Charlee and Payton. Gerry and Toni were married for 43 years until her death from an illness in 2017, six weeks after her retirement. “She got robbed,” Gerry told Good Morning America about Toni. “Every day that goes by, that’s the thought I have.”
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“I’ve always tried to commit to myself to only try and say ‘I love you’ to one person for the rest of my life. I only wanted to be intimate with one person for the rest of my life. I failed at that,” he told Variety. “That’s what I alluded to about being in the moment and getting all excited about the concept of being in love. I so regretted it, because I felt like I wasn’t true to myself at that moment. This is what I expected of myself and I failed. When you say that to someone, it can become very destructive.”
So what happened with Gerry Turner’s ex-girlfriend and why was their breakup so shocking? Read more to find out.
Who is Gerry Turner’s Ex-Girlfriend?
Who is Gerry Turner’s ex-girlfriend? Gerry Turner’s ex-girlfriend talked to The Hollywood Reporter about their dating life before The Golden Bachelor. Turner’s ex-girlfriend wished to remain anonymous but the publication called her Carolyn for continuity purposes.
According to the site, Carolyn was 14 years his junior and was a staff accountant at the mental health center in Indiana. They dated for 10 months right after his wife died and then lived together for one year and nine months. The two met at the mental health facility where she worked at, and the staff and patients were well acquainted with Gerry and his late wife Toni.
“Then, we get the shocking news that Toni passed away, so most everyone at the office went to the visitation in July,” Carolyn told THR. “Then, in August, I got a phone call from Gerry,” she said. “I was so shocked to hear from him.”
“Damn, I go to bed at night thinking of you and wake up in the morning thinking of you,” he had texted Carolyn on Sept. 2, 2017, just months after his wife’s death.
Carolyn came forward because she didn’t want to be the “invisible woman,” whispered about in Davenport. Carolyn’s friend Susan McReery vouched for the romance.
“When Carolyn and Gerry first started dating [in September 2017], my husband and I took them to an Iowa [Hawkeyes] football game,” Susan said. “I thought, ‘This guy’s legit. This guy’s a really good guy for her.’”
She also reacted to when Gerry said the line about not having been kissed in six years. “And I’m like, what? He’s got to know that people are paying attention to this show. I’m just flabbergasted.”
Carolyn eventually moved in with Gerry and had hefty negotiations like a job change and moving to “the middle of nowhere” but things became tense at a particular moment. “I’m not taking you to the reunion looking like that,” he told her when heading to his high school reunion. The comment was pointed towards her body when she gained 10 pounds from stress she says.
The confrontation culminated in their breakup. Carolyn moved out of their shared lake house and subsequently injured her ankle during the move-out— when Gerry allegedly accused her of prolonging her stay and suggested that she was planning to sue him for causing the injury. When Carolyn finally moved out Gerry told her, “I really wish this would’ve worked out. Call me when you get to your hotel, so I know you made it safe.”
Carolyn wasn’t the only person Gerry dated after his wife died. Heather Lanning-Adams talked to The Sun and considered Gerry her friend. She told reporters, “He dated a couple of women. They weren’t all long-term, but they … weren’t short-term either. … He was with a couple of women for a decent amount of time, but it just didn’t work out.”
What were the Golden Bachelor’s contestants reactions to Gerry Turner’s ex-girlfriend’s comments?
According to a source to Life & Style, the contestants are not in a good place a day before the season 1 finale. “The perfect guy fantasy has been shattered and a lot of the women who fell in love with him feel lied to,” the source told the site. “It’s put a dark cloud over the whole show that was finally getting raves for finding a genuine, caring guy who stole America’s heart.”
Who does Gerry Turner pick on the Golden Bachelor?
Who does Gerry Turner pick on The Golden Bachelor? Spoilers ahead! Reality Steve revealed that Gerry Turner is engaged to Theresa Nist. Gerry gave his final rose and proposed to Theresa at the Final Rose Ceremony after rejecting his runner-up, Leslie Fhima, a 64-year-old fitness instructor from Minneapolis, Minnesota. His third place finalist, Faith Martin, a 60-year-old high school teacher from Benton City, Washington, was eliminated after Hometown Dates.
“Gerry got engaged to Theresa. They are still engaged, and we’ll see what happens with their lives,” Reality Steve said on his Daily Roundup podcast. “You know, Theresa is from New Jersey. Gerry loves his life in Indiana. So we’ll find out on November 30, when they’re live on the couch, exactly what their plans are… what they’ve been up to these last couple months. But Gerry is engaged to Theresa.”
Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman
The Golden Bachelor airs on Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC. Here’s how to watch it for free.
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To get more of an inside scoop, check out Los Angeles Times writer Amy Kaufman’s book, Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure, for a deep dive into the Bachelor franchise. The book uncovers the secrets of Bachelor Nation, from how much the Bachelor and the Bachelorette are paid to the rules contestants have to follow, that producers don’t want fans to know. It’s a must-read for any Bachelor Nation member.
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