By now, we all know that Bachelor In Paradise is going to look a lot different this year. During The Bachelor Season 29 After The Final Rose episode, host Jesse Palmer revealed that Bachelor In Paradise will also feature The Golden Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants. The first two cast members have been revealed: The Golden Bachelor runner-up Leslie Fhima and The Golden Bachelorette contestant Gary Levingston. However, now all the buzz is on Gerry Turner and if the inaugural Golden Bachelor will head down to the beach.
We found the answer pretty quickly. In an interview with TMZ, Gerry revealed that he turned down an offer to join Golden Bachelor in Paradise in early March 2025. The decision doesn’t shock me, and, in all honesty, I’m glad he isn’t going to be heading down to the beach.
Gerry Turner Lied His Way Into the Spotlight
Let’s remember who Gerry really is. He came onto our screens, capturing our hearts from the get-go. Gerry was introduced to Bachelor Nation as a lonely man, grieving the loss of his wife, and looking to open his heart up again. Gerry cried during the opening episode when he recounted the story of Toni, his beloved wife of 43 years, who tragically died of an infection just one month after their move to their “dream” retirement house on Big Long Lake in Hudson, Indiana. The story was so heartwrenching, it brought me to tears. Viewers were under the impression that Gerry hadn’t dated since Toni, and that he was going on the show to give love another shot. He even told Entertainment Tonight, “I mean I haven’t dated in 45 years.” Gerry also alleged he was a retired restaurateur, who had been out of the job market for quite some time. However, inconsistencies were revealed in his elaborate storyline that changed the way Bachelor Nation looked at him.
In November 2023, The Hollywood Reporter published an exposé on him. It was revealed that Gerry had essentially been lying about his work experience and previous romantic relationships. First, he claimed he was a retired restaurateur, which is a glitzy way of saying he owned a restaurant or restaurants. However, according to his profile on LinkedIn, Gerry last owned a restaurant in 1985, when he sold his Mr. Quick hamburger drive-in franchise in Iowa, where he’d worked his way up from high school. Not exactly what viewers had in mind when he said “restauranteur.” Throughout the show, Gerry also says he retired at the young age of 55, which would have been in 2006. His LinkedIn contradicts this, saying he did work installing hot tubs, and being a maintenance man at a mental health center. It doesn’t sound like he was retired to me.
This is where his story surrounding his romantic past falls apart. Although he claimed he hadn’t dated since his wife Toni, The Hollywood Reporter found out that he was dating a woman they call Carolyn (for anonymity purposes). The two supposedly had a three-year relationship, beginning around a month after his wife’s death. Carolyn was the staff accountant at the mental health center he worked at. The relationship was so serious, the two actually lived together for over a year. The Hollywood Reporter also revealed Gerry dated a few other women as well.
The issue isn’t that Gerry owned a fast-food chain and is now a maintenance man, or that he dated after his wife died. The problem is that he lied about it. The show portrayed him as a man who had a lack of love since his wife died, and that the show was his first time opening up to the idea of love again. The way that Gerry pulled on our heartstrings turned out to be a lie. Gerry is not the man we all thought he was, which is why I’m glad he’s not on Paradise. All the fame he’s acquired has been based on lies. I think that contestants who have been honest and vulnerable should get a second chance on our screens over him.
Gerry Turner Has Already Dated All The Golden Women
Gerry was the very first Golden Bachelor, and there’s only been one season, which means that Gerry has already dated all the Golden female contestants that would be going on the show. What would the point be in him returning to the beach to go date people he already knows aren’t his person? He has already explored all of those connections. I doubt being on the beach would change how anything went the first time around. During his interview with TMZ, he said the main reason he turned down the Golden Bachelor In Paradise offer was because he had already decided that there was no romantic spark with the other women, or that logistically the relationship wasn’t going to work out.
We know that his runner-up, Leslie will be on the beach, which may create some awkward situations if he was to return to the beach alongside someone he was once in love with. I wouldn’t feel the most comfortable dating and exploring romantic connections if my ex was doing the exact same thing right in my face.
I am all for the Golden contestants getting a second shot at love in Paradise. However, Gerry is the one contestant that I think should stay off our screens. After his inconsistencies about his past, and the fact that he’s already dated all the women, I think I’ve seen enough Gerry Turner.
