The Golden Bachelor finale airs tonight on ABC.
Gerry Turner will choose who to give his final rose to: Theresa Nist or Leslie Fhima.
Which makes the timing of a new expose from The Hollywood Reporter especially concerning.
In it, one of Gerry’s ex-girlfriends, who claims they started talking just weeks after his wife Toni’s death, told a story that did not paint The Golden Bachelor star in a flattering light.
She claimed that despite their relationship starting on the business level, messages from Gerry turned flirtatious very quickly, leading to a nearly three-year relationship that ended badly.
The woman, who used a pseudonym to protect her privacy, called Gerry out for fat-shaming her after a 10-lb weight gain, a move that she says ultimately led to their split.
She also claimed that Gerry kicked her out of his Indiana home where she was living, and then after she broke her foot during a fall down the stairs while moving her things without his help, he accused her of using the injury to prolong her stay.
Long story short, the account was far from what Bachelor Nation has been fed over the last few months about Gerry being a good guy who gets emotional, cries possibly too much, and really cares about the well-being of the women who are trying to win him over.
Gerry Turner admits he’s ‘dated a number of times’
After claims from a woman going by “Carolyn” came out, accusing Gerry Turner of being not-so-nice, he also put out an exclusive with PEOPLE where he admitted that he has actually dated a bit since the death of his wife.
It seems in stark contrast to things we’ve seen on the show, where he even claimed once to have only had one kiss since Toni passed away.
Now, he’s coming clean — sort of. And honestly, the timing of Gerry’s confession sounds a bit like damage control.
“I’ve dated a number of times since Toni’s passed, more recently than back closer to when she’s passed,” Gerry admitted. “For one reason or another, the attempts didn’t work out. I could give you a wide range of reasons, but it doesn’t really matter.”
Gerry even claimed that he tried dating a year after Toni’s death, which contradicts his ex-girlfriend’s story, and claimed that “every time I thought I was ready, I realized I wasn’t.”
Well, he might not have been ready but almost three years with one person in a relationship that began the same year he became a widower is a surprise to viewers.
Gerry Turner received help from a grief counselor
In the same report, Gerry admitted that about three years after his wife died, he started seeing a grief counselor.
And by “Carolyn’s” account, that timing lines up with about the time they broke up as she claimed that Gerry made her move out of his home before January 1, 2020, and even reimbursed her for her U-Haul so she would leave.
“It was a difficult time,” Gerry said.
“I finally decided, ‘It’s time for me to go see a grief counselor,’ because I wasn’t sure I was on track. I wasn’t sure I was mending properly. It was probably a life changer for me because I remember having two sessions with the counselor, and he goes, ‘You’re fine. You just got to give yourself credit for being OK.'”
Gerry doesn’t seem too bothered by his clearly disgruntled ex-girlfriend, though. As he put it, he made friends with one of his exes, and due to that, he said, “some of the failures were offset by that one nice success.”
The Golden Bachelor returns on Thursday, November 30, at 8/7c on ABC.