The Golden Bachelor: 10 Reasons Gerry Turner Was Canceled (He Brought It On Himself)

After his marriage to Theresa Nist ended in disaster, The Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner was thoroughly canceled, and he had only himself to blame. It all started with such promise for the 72-year-old retired restaurateur. Before television stardom came calling, Gerry was a lonely widower, living in Indiana, focusing on his philanthropic interests. He had been married to the love of his life, Toni Turner, for 43 years, before she passed away in 2017, after a brief illness. When the tall, attractive septuagenarian was announced as the first lead of the Bachelor spin-off, eligible older women from all over the country inundated ABC casting offices with applications to compete for Gerry's final rose. Among the 22 amazing elderly bachelorettes was Theresa, a 70-year-old day trader from New Jersey.

Before joining the cast of The Golden Bachelor season 1, Theresa was also a lonely widower. She had been married to her high school sweetheart, William Nist, for 42 happy years, before he passed away in 2014. Gerry and Theresa hit it off from the moment she stepped out of the limousine outside the Bachelor mansion on night one, and she was a clear front-runner throughout the season. Gerry gave Theresa his final rose, and the two were married a few short weeks after going public with their relationship. Sadly, the marriage lasted about as long as their engagement, with the couple announcing their split just three months later. Since the split, Gerry's reputation has taken a hit, and he has only himself to blame.

10Gerry Ripped Leslie's Heart Out

He Gave Her False Expectations

Though Gerry and Theresa hit it off right away, Theresa wasn't the only bachelorette Gerry fell for during The Golden Bachelor season 1. Gerry also liked 65-year-old dance instructor Leslie Fhima, whom he gave one of his final two roses to. The twice divorced mother of two fell head over heels for Gerry, and the two seemed very compatible. During hometown visits, Gerry really hit it off with Leslie's family, and he seemed to fit right in.

On the night before the final rose ceremony, Gerry whisked Leslie away for an overnight date, during which he looked her in the eye and told her that she was "the one." She was devastated when Gerry turned around the next day and proposed to Theresa instead. It's hard to imagine how Gerry came back from this stunning reversal, but he did. Adding insult to injury, Leslie had to attend Gerry and Theresa's lavish Golden Bachelor wedding, which was likely a contractual obligation on her part.

9Gerry Refused To Move

He Loves Indiana

Before his late wife, Toni, passed away, she and Gerry had worked hard for years to build their dream home on a lakeside in Indiana. No sooner had the couple finished building their home than Toni got sick - she sadly passed away soon after. Gerry was understandably reluctant to leave the home that he had worked so hard to build with his late wife, but it complicated his marriage to Theresa, who didn't want to move to Indiana. Theresa lived in New Jersey, and no one could blame her for not wanting to move into a house her new husband had built for his late wife. She was initially willing to move to a third location, and the couple even considered North Carolina, where they both had friends and family. In the end, The Golden Bachelor season 1 stars weren't willing to make major changes to be together.

8Gerry Hit On Kris Jenner

Keeping Up With The Kardashians

The Golden Bachelor attracted its fair share of celebrity viewers, and one of the show's biggest celebrity fans was model and reality star Kendall Jenner. Knowing what a huge fan of the show her daughter was, reality TV superstar and Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner invited Gerry over for dinner and a watch party one night. According to Kendall, during the fun event, Gerry flirted with her mother, Kris, throughout the evening, as she told producers during an outtake from an episode of The Kardashians.

" Yes, he was commenting on her smile and her eyes and her energy ," Kendall told producers. " I'm like, I think we should leave, like, I don't know! "

Later in the episode, producers asked Kris if Kendall was right about Gerry flirting with her, but Kris didn't confirm or deny the accusation. The fact that Gerry could have been flirting with another woman while he was engaged to Theresa is one of many ways The Golden Bachelor earned his cancelation.

7Gerry Lied About His Love Life

He Wasn't So Lonely After All

Gerry told a very compelling story when he made his television debut during The Golden Bachelor season 1. After 43 deliriously happy years of marriage with his beloved late wife, she suddenly passed away in 2017 and left him a lonely widower. Gerry was reportedly so heartbroken by her unexpected death that he couldn't even think about dating someone new, until the producers of The Golden Bachelor offered him this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to find true love again.

In November 2023, The Hollywood Reporter dropped a bombshell story revealing that Gerry had lied about his dating history, among other things. The Golden Bachelor hadn't been single since his late wife's death. Not only had he started dating almost immediately after she died, he'd been in a three-year-long relationship with a woman, whom he'd even lived with for a time. Obviously, the fiction about Gerry was a much better story than the truth, but it's one of the reasons why he's the Bachelor franchise's worst lead.

6Gerry Lied About His Job

The Golden Maintenance Man

His love life wasn't the only thing Gerry lied about or embellished. The same Hollywood Reporter article went on to expose the truth about Gerry's work history. Though Gerry identified as a retired restaurateur, the truth was, as usual, more complicated than that. Though he did once own a small diner, he sold the popular local eatery decades ago. Since then, he has worked several odd jobs, including a long stint as a maintenance man. Though there's nothing wrong with being a handyman, Gerry obviously believes that it's not good enough, as he felt the need to embellish his past. When confronted about this reality, Gerry claimed that his maintenance work was unpaid charity work, mostly for local nursing homes. At this point, the full truth may never be known.

5Gerry Flaunted His Love Life

Ladies Allegedly Love Gerry

Since Gerry and Theresa announced their Golden divorce in April 2024, there has been significant speculation about their love lives. Gerry recently made heads explode when he told TMZ that, though he wasn't ready to start dating again just yet, women were flooding his social media DMs with private messages to express their romantic interest in The Golden Bachelor. Gerry went on to also claim that women were approaching him in person. They were handing over their phone numbers. He says that he hasn't contacted any of the women yet, but that hasn't stopped Gerry from bragging about his love life. Also, he may not be telling the truth. For Theresa's part, she has been entirely focused on her family since the divorce and hasn't commented about whether any men had been sliding into her social media DMs.

4Gerry Flaunted His Fame

He Loved Being A Big Star

While Gerry has received enormous criticism since the divorce, no one can ever say that the man isn't entertaining. Though The Golden Bachelor season 1 can attribute its success to multiple factors, Gerry's telegenic qualities played a role in the show's incredible reception, and Gerry knows it. In May, just a few weeks before announcing his divorce from Theresa, Gerry posted about a Critics' Choice "Male Star of the Year" nomination on Instagram. He posted a screenshot of the nominees with his name circled.

That wasn't the only time Gerry flaunted his fame. In February, just a few weeks after his ill-advised wedding to Theresa, Gerry posted a photo of an Emmy consideration magazine ad that featured a photo of Gerry under the words "HISTORY-MAKING." The ad also mentions some of the other awards won by The Golden Bachelor season 1, including a DGA nomination for best reality program premiere and an AARP Movies For Grownups award for best reality series. Gerry's dream of winning an Emmy didn't come true, as the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor didn't win any Emmy Awards in 2024.

3Gerry Taunted Theresa

He Made A Joke Of Their Divorce

In June, Gerry posted a carousel of photos to Instagram from a recent fundraising event that he organized. The photos commemorate a fun day on the lake with friends and family, all for a good cause, and feature photos of The Golden Bachelor star flaunting his fit, sun-kissed physique. In one of the photos, Gerry wears a tee shirt that reads, "Indiana. It's Not That Bad."

Though it's good that Gerry has a sense of humor about life's disappointments, making a joke about a recent divorce was distasteful on Gerry's part and didn't sit well with Theresa's supporters. It has often been said that comedy is tragedy plus time, but it's clear that Gerry hasn't mastered this delicate equation. Being that the divorce was still fresh at the time, Gerry should have let a little more time pass before making jokes about the dissolution of his marriage.

2Gerry Gave Joan Terrible Advice

He's Clearly Still Bitter

The Golden Bachelorette season 1's trailer premiered recently, and, as so often happens, the episode ended with scenes from future episodes. These clips, which Bachelor Nation posted on YouTube, teased Gerry's visit to Joan. In one scene, Gerry asks Joan to consider the fact that she won't find her true love after all.

Going through a public divorce isn't easy, and it's understandable that Gerry feels bitter about the experience, especially since he had been unfairly maligned as the villain of the story. The truth is, Gerry was probably contractually required to make an appearance on The Golden Bachelorette season 1, but he clearly wasn't ready to do so just yet.

1Gerry Didn't Fight For Theresa

Three Months Wasn't Enough Time To Know

The Golden Bachelor wedding aired on ABC in January 2024, and Gerry and Theresa announced their divorce in April, which was roughly three months later. Though there's something to be said for not dragging things out, three months simply isn't enough time to know if a couple can make a marriage work. That being said, Gerry is getting blamed for the divorce, which is unfair as it takes two to tango. Theresa is every bit as responsible for the breakdown of the Golden marriage as Gerry was. Though Gerry and Theresa both blamed the dissolution of their marriage on geography, the truth is much simpler. The bottom line is that The Golden Bachelor season 1 stars rushed into marriage, and realized that they weren't willing to make sacrifices for each other.