A new investigative report from The Hollywood Reporter has discovered inconsistencies in The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner‘s seemingly spotless backstory.
Since Turner was first announced as the inaugural senior stud in July, he has been open about the loss of his wife and high school sweetheart, Toni, who died in 2017 following a bacterial infection, and a large part of his persona on the show has been that his life has not had any romance since Toni’s passing.
He highlighted this in his interview with Decider in September, when asked about how he thinks dating has changed over the years.
“Well you’re aware that almost 60 years have gone by since the last time,” he replied, amid laughter. “Maybe not quite that much, but pretty close.”
However, according to THR, Turner has dated since then. A former girlfriend of his (identified by THR as “Carolyn” to protect her anonymity) told the outlet that she and Turned had dated for nearly three years, beginning just a month after Toni’s death.
Decider reached out to representatives for The Golden Bachelor for comment, but did not hear back in time of publication.
Carolyn, who is 14 years younger than Turner, moved in with him at his lake house in Hudson, Indiana after a year together, and said that he promised her mother that he planned to marry her.
After a year and nine months of living together, Carolyn was packing for Turner’s high school reunion, when he reportedly told her, “I’m not taking you to the reunion looking like that,” while pointing at her body. Carolyn explained to THR that she had gained 10 pounds due to stress. This interaction led to them breaking up.
Heather Lanning-Adams, a former waitress at The Shady Nook bar and restaurant located next door to Turner’s lake house, told a reporter from The U.S. Sun that he “dated a couple of women.”
“They weren’t long-term, but they weren’t short-term either,” she added.
According to ScreenRant, Turner has only admitted on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast that he had one kiss over the six-year period between his wife’s passing and his time joining the show.
THR also found holes in his “retired restaurateur” title. While viewers were under the impression that he retired at age 55, he reportedly has held a couple positions afterwards — one of which as a maintenance man at a mental health center, where he would meet Carolyn, who worked there as a staff accountant.
The Golden Bachelor finale airs Nov. 30 at 8/7c on ABC.
