Reality TV

Gerry Addresses His Dating “Failures” From Before The Golden Bachelor

“Every time I thought I was ready, I realized I wasn’t.”

by Jake Viswanath
‘Golden Bachelor’ Gerry Addresses His Dating “Failures” Before The Show
RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

No matter what age you are, there’s one thing that can get complicated: the dating world. In an interview with People published on Nov. 29, Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner opened up about his dating “failures” after his wife Toni died in 2017 and before becoming the first-ever “Golden Bachelor.”

“I’ve dated a number of times since Toni’s passed, more recently than back closer to when she’s passed,” he told People. “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.”

Turner explained that he initially thought he’d be ready to date again one year after Toni’s death, which didn’t end up being the case. “Every time I thought I was ready, I realized I wasn't,” he said.

It was only when he saw a grief counselor that he became more optimistic. “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,’” he recalled.

Turner’s Dating History

Gerry Turner attends the 2023 CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 08, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee.Taylor Hill/WireImage/Getty Images

Turner’s comments came just hours after The Hollywood Reporter published a report alleging that he dated around after his wife’s passing much more than the Golden Bachelor may have led viewers to believe. An anonymous woman, whom the outlet calls Carolyn, claims to have had a three-year relationship with Turner, even living together for nearly two.

The outlet corroborated Carolyn’s story with her friends and relatives, some of whom also spoke on the record. “When Carolyn and Gerry first started dating [in September 2017], my husband and I took them to an Iowa [Hawkeyes] football game,” close friend Susan McCreary said. “I thought, ‘This guy’s legit. This guy’s a really good guy for her.’”

However, she specifically took issue with Turner claiming on the show that he hadn’t been kissed in nearly six years, which is how long it’s been since his wife died. “I’m like, what?” she recalled. “He’s got to know that people are paying attention to this show. I’m just flabbergasted.”

Theresa, Leslie, Faith, and Gerry Turner on The Golden Bachelor.John Fleenor/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images

Although his remarks weren’t a direct response to THR, Turner acknowledged in his interview with People that he’s experienced several dating mishaps. At one point, he even resigned to never falling in love again.

“One failure led to another for a variety of reasons,” he told People. “It was actually about three and a half or four years, I just finally realized that, ‘OK, I’m happy with myself. If I am going to be alone, I can deal with it.’”

While his first attempts at dating didn’t pan out, Turner has no regrets, as he made a valuable new friend who lives nearby. “We realized that the romantic side of the relationship just wasn’t going to work, but we’ve seemed to maintain a nice friendship, so I feel good about that,” he said.

“If nothing else, some of the failures were offset by that one nice success.”