Natalie Monzon '24, Social Media Manager
Watching others fall in love can be a captivating experience, and one of the most popular reality romance shows on television is The Bachelor. In the show, typically, a young male contestant tries to find love with one of the female singles. The show is filled with passion, rumors, competition, and heartbreak.
The Bachelor has had many spin-off shows since it first aired in 2002, whether that be The Bachelorette, Bachelors in Paradise, or Bachelor Pad—and all have been wildly successful. This year, the franchise came out with a new show: The Golden Bachelor.
The Golden Bachelor took a new approach to the dating show world. Although advertised through casting calls for quite some time prior, the new Bachelor spin-off finally aired on Sept. 28, 2023. This innovative take was for older singles who have experienced much of life but were still looking for love. It followed seniors navigating the dating world. Many bachelorettes in the show have lost the love of their lives or just have not found the right person.
Seventy-one-year-old Gerry Turner was the golden bachelor for the show's first season. The media immediately fell in love with Turner because of his heartbreaking story and how he carried himself. Turner met the love of his life, Tori, in high school. They were married for 43 years and had a great life together. The pair had two daughters, Angie and Jenny. Unfortunately, Tori became very ill in 2017 and passed away soon after. Turner was introduced as a family-oriented and loyal man who genuinely cared for others, to which the audience was drawn to. He was a seemingly ordinary guy looking for a companion to share the rest of his life with. A significant part of his storyline was the heartwarming fact Turner had not dated since his wife passed. Viewers felt for Turner and embraced the fact that he was still in love with his late wife Turner's seemingly perfect past started to become tainted when The Hollywood Reporter noticed inconsistencies in Turner's story. Suzanne O'Malley and Barbara Lippert wrote an unforgettable article about the ordeal.
Turner claimed that he worked as a restaurateur until retirement at age 55. With further research, the reporters found that Turner had sold his business in 1985 and gone on to other jobs with no date of retirement, according to his LinkedIn profile. This was a massive shift in what he portrayed to the public, but this was only the beginning of his controversy.
Turner's job history was not the only lie he told to the world. An anonymous source, referred to as Carolyn, reached out to O'Malley and Lippert. Carolyn claimed that she had not only dated Turner for three years, from 2017 to 2020, but they started their relationship one month after Tori's death. She was 14 years younger than Turner and really liked him but felt a little uncomfortable since his wife had just passed away.
The relationship started seemingly well, but Turner was very persistent and pushed this relationship to happen. He wanted her to move in with him and after a long time of convincing, she agreed. Carolyn had to quit her job and found it extremely difficult to find one in the new location. Turner started to portray more controlling behavior shortly after the move.
When they would go out to a restaurant, Turner made sure that Corolyn paid her share of the bill in advance before arriving at the establishment to make sure he seemed like a stereotypical gentleman. She also recalls they were getting ready for Turner's high school reunion when he told her he did not want to take her to the reunion "looking like that," pointing out the weight that she had gained from stress. That was the straw that broke the camel's back in their relationship.
Toxic comments coming from Turner ultimately led up to the couple's split. Carolyn told the reports how she moved out of the home where they started their love story, distraught. The stress and difficulty of packing up her things alone caused her to fall down the stairs and need serious surgery on her foot; Turner accused her of doing it on purpose to stay longer. Angered by this accident, Turner did not allow her to stay home and recover after she uprooted her life for him. He gave her a very short notice to pack her things and move out. Turner admitted to the dating rumors but said they would never work out: "Every time I thought I was ready, I realized I wasn't," he told People Magazine.
Turner found new love on his season of The Golden Bachelor with bachelorette Theresa Nist. The couple married on Jan. 4 of this year, and the ceremony was broadcasted to the world. There were mixed opinions about the wedding: some viewers considered it a joke in light of all the drama surrounding Turner. Many were hurt by the blatant lies and hypocrisy of Turner's actions on the show versus real life. Senior Liesl Hunt said, "Reality stars should be truthful because it is not that hard to do a background check."
The Bachelor franchise did not comment on the situation and continued to support Turner. Although he seemed like a charming man, a great husband, a loving father, and a grandfather, all the respect was lost when a man the viewers felt they could trust became another piece in reality television's lies and deceit.
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