'The Golden Bachelor' Star Gerry Turner Talks Contestant Age Group and Looking For Love After 70

first just tell me how you ended up in this position as the first

golden

bachelor

. It's a pretty long story, it

star

ted long before Covid and I was in a period where I wasn't dating anyone. I hadn't met the good circle of friends. that I have now, so I was feeling a little down and I saw the ad and I mentioned it to my daughters, they are big fans of the show and they made me watch the show and they were like, dad, you should do it, you should do it and, to me surprise, I completed the interview online and listened shortly after, I mean in the next few days and then of course things got dead with kovid and lo and behold when it was announced that it was again going to happen.

Then my phone rang and it's been Off to the Races ever since, that was mid-February. I think at the beginning of February, before I applied for this program, did you think that was something that was important to you, boy? It depends on what month. of the year you would ask me, but it would go through phases. I would say yes. I definitely want to remarry. I was happily married for 43 years, that's a wonderful lifestyle for me, and then I was like, no, I'm pretty happy. You've only talked about your wife and I'm so sorry for your loss and it sounds like you had a beautiful

love

story and decades and decades together, what do you think she would think of all this?

I have his picture in my closet I go into the closet and it's on a chest, no one can see it except me, you know, if someone walks by and, almost every morning, I would look at the picture and say, well, what do you think? and I try. to be alone with my thoughts just for a moment and at first it was like, well, I don't know what she would think of this because I think I still felt like I was being disloyal or unfaithful and over time I got to I realize that I think that she would be an encouraging supporter.

We talked about it when we were alive. We both wanted the other to be happy if one of us passed away and set up our financial setup that way. And everything, that's how it was. Yes this. "It's like it should be now, obviously, you've lived a lot more life than most of the previous

contestant

s on The Bachelor franchise. They've lived a lot, and a lot of fans who

love

this show have said that the

contestant

s are too young." they're not actually ready to get married they're not mature enough this isn't what they're

looking

for they're in it for the right reason, so to speak, that's what Bachelor Nation is saying right now that you're here and leaving Being dating people closest in age to yours, what do you think are the advantages of having lived this whole life and coming to this show with a lot more life experience?

Well, that's a good question, I think each generation brings certain advantages to a situation, um, the more youthful exuberance and energy, etc., and it's true that there has been a negative side, some people think it may be for the reasons wrong reasons why people are there. I don't make any judgments about that, I have no idea it's a long time. ways for me, but what I can say is that when you have lived a long, full, happy and productive life, almost by accident, you gain some wisdom and knowledge, it is as if I know things because I have seen them and not because I have thought them . it's going to happen, so I think the age factor, whether for me or for women, is a really strong advantage in ways that I don't think everyone sees yet.

I think there will be some surprising revelations in the show where age is a big advantage, there's a lot of talk in Hollywood about ageism and we don't see love stories certainly for people of a certain age, so what kind of impact do you think that will have? you can have? Well, what I expect and what actually happens. Be different but the Mantra I always say and try to beat the drum as much as possible is never give up if you don't find love in a situation, don't give up, the guy on the street would love to have a coffee. with someone, it may not turn into a love story, but it could be a great company, so don't give up, don't stay at home thinking that you are too old to do it in life.

Good things take time and this love story. It's worth the wait, what kind of conversations have you had with producers or executives about what your season will be like? Because obviously there's a format for Bachelor and Bachelorette and now I would assume it's Bachelor gold, but there have to be things that are different since you're the

star

, yeah, and I've asked a lot of those questions and true to form, I've been said I'll have to live it to find out, so Curiosity keeps me going as much as some of the others. Excitement, but no. I'll be surprised, just like you, when we watch the show.

Did you have any say in the casting for your season? I wouldn't like to say anything at the casting. Do you know that my wife left six years ago? Of those six I dated, about four I wasn't very good at casting, so I'm happy I don't have that job. I think the process they used in the past and refined it. will bring in some really fantastic candidates. Did you give them any prerequisites for the type of women you'd like to date? Not much. I mean, they would ask several questions and you know some of the things I said.

I would like someone who enjoys activity, maybe likes golf, pickleball or some sport and uses it to stay in shape. There was a general age range, but not much else. I'm very curious to see what it is. What was going to happen the first night? What was the general age range you gave for the type of women you'd like to date? I think my answer was this. I think I said 60 to 70, but feel free to blur the lines. Do you know that you are going to hand out red roses or is it a

golden

rose like the one we saw in the promotion?

Yes, that's not my place to answer. Don't know. I know there are some icons from the show that will be honored. and I definitely accept that I would, I would just guess, so I guess I have to stop there and say: I don't know now what the reaction has been since you were revealed as the golden lot or your photo came out, the trailer came out. find out what the reaction has been like, oh it's been a lot of fun so I think one of the joys of doing this because there's a lot of nervousness and a lot of responsibility that goes along with it, the joy is seeing all the people who want to join in. ride and so, uh, the people at the lake, Pickleball friends, especially, um, everyone has been very supportive, extremely happy, uh, of course, some of them give me a hard time, but that's to be expected , but here's an example, um, I think.

It was about two weeks ago, I was by the lake and I was talking to the couple that was going to take care of my house while I was gone, the aquatic plants, you know, and that kind of thing, and I heard this squealing and laughing behind me and There are like eight or nine teenage girls running around the side yard with their moms and they stop and look at me and say is that you, Gary Turner, are you the golden

bachelor

? I'm going, yes I am, then there was more squealing and they They were the most loved

group

of girls I've seen in a long time and we took phones that came out of nowhere and there must have been 10 phones and everyone was taking

group

pictures and individual pictures and everything , so it was a riot, it was just a ball and that has happened to me over and over again in different situations are you ready for that? for them growing and growing.

I like it, yeah, I'm not going to lie, I like it, I find it, um, maybe an early reward. For the work ahead of me, what do your granddaughters and your daughters think of all this new attention coming your way? Well, the funniest thing is my lack of knowledge of social media. I mean, I've never cared. so much and then they send me information and sometimes I read the text and I don't even know what impact it has, you know, I said well, what does this mean and so on, they're very excited, they're excited, uh, they.

Send me a lot of positive reinforcement, but some of it I just don't know.