The party doesn’t stop on The Golden Bachelor.
Host Jesse Palmer revealed that ladies vying for Gerry Turner ‘s heart were showing no signs of needing a break during night one of the ABC dating show.
“The night does not end at 10 p.m. like I thought it might — only because people were a little bit older, maybe they wouldn’t be able to stay up as late,” Palmer told E! News. “People know that first night at the mansion is the longest night in television — period. I mean, normally that goes from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m., and it is an all-nighter and they are rollin’.”
He continued, “And I’ll say this — having been on it now for a couple years — a lot of these young kids, they talk a lot of game but inevitably you see them on the couch passed out taking little naps here and there.”
Palmer shared that there were “no naps taken on The Golden Bachelor,” adding, “They partied hard, and they went from sundown to sunup.”
The television personality also gave kudos to the 22 ladies — including Matt James’ mom Patty — taking part in the show, saying, “One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about this group of women? They are so much more confident getting out of the limo on night one-unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
“It’s always the limo entrance arrival, the nerves stepping out, cameras, the mansion, all of it. Because they’ve lived life [and] they’ve had experiences, they are rock stars — and all throughout this season,” he said. “On group dates, on one-on-one dates, traveling, they just shine.”
The ladies weren’t the only ones who made an impression on Palmer. The former NFL player — who was lead of The Bachelor ‘s fifth season before becoming host in September 2021 — recalled Turner, 72, giving memorable speeches while handing out roses.
“You know at the top of rose ceremonies when the Bachelor or the Bachelorette comes in the rose room, and they address the ladies or the men?” Palmer said. “No one’s done it better than Gerry. He’s the best I’ve ever seen at it. He is so much better than me when I was the Bachelor. It’s not even close.”
He called the new Golden Bachelor “really sweet, just humble, appreciative, grateful for the opportunity, [with] amazing family.”
Turner finds himself looking for love again after the death of his wife and high school sweetheart, Toni.
“For a while it was like, I was having a hard time figuring out if she would be okay [with this],” Turner said on Good Morning America in July. “But we always told each other when one of us goes, we want the other to be happy. She’s up there rooting [for me]. She’s saying, ‘Yeah, Gerry. Do this.’”
Turner’s daughters with Toni, Angie and Jenny, signed him up for the show. The widower knows he won’t find another love like the one he had with Toni, but he doesn’t expect to find that.
“I don’t think that’s what I’m looking for,” he told Palmer during The Bachelorette season 20’s Men Tell All special. “What I look for at the age of 70 is different than what I look for when I was in high school and college.”
In a preview for the upcoming season, Turner did, however, joke about who he hoped to meet on the show. “Best case scenario is that I find out that Helen Mirren is on the market and she’s really happy to be on The Golden Bachelo r,” Turner said.
The Golden Bachelor premieres Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
