'The Golden Bachelor' Comes Under Fire

Fans of The Golden Bachelor have slammed star Gerry Turner for lying about his dating history after it was alleged he started dating again shortly after his wife died.

The Golden Bachelor is a spin-off of The Bachelor which saw 22 women fighting to win the heart of the 72-year-old Indiana native. The retired restaurateur was persuaded to do the show by his daughters after losing his wife of 43 years six years ago.

Turner was often portrayed as a grieving widower who claimed he didn’t start dating again until he was approached for the show. However, The Hollywood Reporter has uncovered alleged recent romantic relationships that contradict the storyline viewers were presented with.

Newsweek reached out to Turner for comment, via Instagram, and to an ABC representative via email.

According to the publication, a woman, who they identified only as Carolyn, was in a relationship with the reality star a month after his wife’s death. She claims they dated for 10 months and then lived together for one year and nine months before the relationship ended.

Gerry Turner attends the 2023 CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 8 in Nashville, Tennessee. People online have criticized him for hiding the fact he dated women before starring on “The Golden Bachelor.”
Taylor Hill/WireImage

Carolyn said she observed a difference in Turner’s behavior when they moved in together in July 2018. She told The Hollywood Reporter that Turner asked that she pay rent—of which she paid $850 a month—as well as help with the household expenses. In addition to telling Carolyn that they would only ever split the bill when eating out except on special occasions, Turner was also said to be highly fastidious about hygiene, even requiring her to make the bed before breakfast.

According to Carolyn, the lifestyle changes brought on stress, which led to her gaining 10 pounds. Her weight gain allegedly became a problem as she claims that Turner refused to take her to his high school reunion, noting, “I’m not taking you to the reunion looking like that,” pointing to her body. Turner subsequently broke up with her.

It seems that he had other relationships that he and The Golden Bachelor producers neglected to disclose. The U.S. Sun spoke to Heather Lanning-Adams, a waiter at The Shady Nook, a restaurant and bar near Turner’s lakeside property.

She told the reporter that in the past six years, “He dated a couple of women. They weren’t all long-term, but they … weren’t short-term either. … He was with a couple of women for a decent amount of time, but it just didn’t work out.”

Turner addressed the rumors that he was dishonest about his dating history in an interview with Katie Couric, admitting he had dated women before going on the show.

“I guess I would say this: I dated a number of women, but then it becomes an issue of how you define whether you’re in a relationship. [The relationship referenced in The Hollywood Reporter] really didn’t [last a few years]. But I want to focus on what’s going on now,” he said.

Now fans have slammed Turner, with many people feeling cheated after finding out he had dated various women before going on the show.

“‘The Golden Bachelor’ not so golden after all. The show, and Gerry Turner himself, have portrayed him as a ‘retired restauranteur’ who hasn’t dated since his wife died in 2017. He actually had a three-year romance with a younger woman who he lived with for over a year. His ‘restaurant’ was a burger stand he sold in 1985. He’s been working odd jobs since then, including maintenance and installing hot tubs,” one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“This guy is a sleazy rat,” said another.

“If this is true Gerry is a 75 year old waste man. Das crazy,” another X user posted.

A fourth commented: “Finding out Gerry Turner is actually for the streets was NOT in my Bachelor bingo card. But here we are. #GoldenBachelor.”

“How many of you have ever felt personally victimized by Gerry Turner??” said another.

Turner’s season of The Golden Bachelor ended with an engagement with his final pick, Theresa Nist. The pair will wed on TV in a special titled The Golden Wedding, with the ceremony to be televised on January 4, 2024, on ABC.

Turner and Nist have discussed moving to Charleston, South Carolina, to begin their lives together.