There was no shortage of drama on this week’s The Golden Bachelor.
Gerry Turner was left in tears after one woman’s surprise departure, and there was no love lost between Kathy and Theresa, who fought over Theresa’s boastful attitude after getting the first one-on-one date of the season.
On a lighter note, the women took to the stage in a talent show and tried to dance and sing their way to a solo dinner with the Golden Bachelor. But it wasn’t only Gerry they needed to impress — former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe also had a seat at the judges’ table.
The Talent Show
At the start of the episode, host Jesse Palmer arrived at the mansion to invite all 12 women to perform in a talent show for Gerry.
While the 72-year-old retired restaurateur hoped to see “a different side” of the ladies’ personalities, they were over the moon to find out that Kaitlyn would be a judge. And that was before she informed them that the winner of the talent show would be rewarded with a romantic one-on-one dinner with Gerry.
The women showed off their unique talents: Ellen asked the audience to participate in a sex ed course for middle schoolers (“I want this side of the room to repeat after a hoo hah is a vagina”), Susan did a karate demonstration and Faith sang an original song for Gerry.
Leslie offered up an energetic dance performance that she was convinced would secure her victory.
But it was Joan — who said she was “not a performer” — that got Gerry’s attention with her poem “I Just Hope I Don’t Vomit on Your Shoes.”
“I recite this poem to you Gerry because I really just want another rose,” the 60-year-old private school administrator began. “I hope you can see that being on this stage could really give me the blues, and you’ll give some extra points for just not vomiting on your shoes.”
The One-on-One Dinner
After arriving for dinner, Joan and Gerry discussed their struggles with dating after loss but they both came to realize they were ready to find a new partner.
Joan admitted “had a really hard time” leaving home after her daughter welcomed a baby 15 days prior to the show. She explained her decision to come on the show, saying, “For the first time in my life, I’m really going to do something for myself because I think I’m ready and this is an opportunity I just can’t let go.”
Gerry responded by toasting to the Maryland native, sharing, “I want to tell you that I’m as excited to be spending time with you as I’ve ever been with anyone so here’s to you and here’s to a future.” He then gave Joan a rose and the pair shared a kiss.
However, their dreams for the future were short-lived. The next morning, Joan received a message from her daughter and broke down in tears over whether to leave the show to be with her family.
She told Gerry, “I got a text this morning, and I think I need to go home and be a mom right now. So as much as I don’t want to leave — and I don’t want to leave our journey — I got to be a parent.”
While he understood her decision, Gerry told her that he was “disappointed” that she was leaving, adding, “I was thrilled that we had a conversation like we did, but there’s a moral compass with both share and sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest.”
After sharing a goodbye kiss with Joan, Gerry broke down in tears on a bench outside the mansion.
The Second One-on-One
Fashion designer Michael Costello came to the mansion to help Ellen get ready for her dream date with Gerry.
After she slipped on a perfect pink dress, she stepped into a limo with Gerry for their date. During dinner, the father of two discussed his wedding date, and Ellen recalled meeting her former husband when she was just 10 years old.
Along the way, Gerry presented Ellen with chandelier earrings to complete her look, then took her on a hot air balloon ride. They ended the fairy tale date by exchange a rose and kiss.
“Every minute with Ellen today was a gift,” he said. “There’s just something about her personality that pulls me in. She could be the one I spend the rest of my life with.”
The Cocktail Party
Theresa was struggling to come to terms with Gerry having relationships with the other women after she received the first one-on-one date of the season. “It gets more difficult to see him form connections because I really don’t know what he has with other women,” she explained. “It’s a different feeling going into a rose ceremony without a rose.”
Before the cocktail party, Theresa gushed to Kathy about her own connection with Gerry and recalled their “off the charts” date, sharing, “It was amazing. We didn’t stop talking. We were smiling the whole time. He was talking about the future.”
However, Kathy — who had her own concerns about getting a rose — wasn’t a fan of Theresa’s boastful attitude, explaining in a confessional, “I don’t want to hear that. I think she thinks she’s got this.”
April got into the middle of Theresa and Kathy’s issues by telling Theresa to keep her “mouth shut” about the “intimate” moments between her and Gerry. Theresa seemed shocked to learn that April was speaking on behalf of Kathy.
During her one-on-one conversation with Gerry, Kathy admitted she had “a rough day,” adding, “I just had a lot of daggers today so I’m just trying to keep it together here.”
When asked who was at the center of the problem, Kathy responded without naming names, saying, “I think that sometimes what you initially see is not what is and I don’t want to make a mistake and I don’t want you to make a mistake. My biggest goal for you is to be happy. I want you to be happy.”
After their chat, Gerry felt he had seen “a whole new side” of Kathy and gave her a rose.
Despite getting the rose, Kathy wasn’t over her drama with Theresa. When Theresa pulled her aside, she said, “I think you and Gerry have a huge connection. Here’s my problem … I feel like you’re dismissing me, like, ‘He and I are going off into the sunset. Go pack because you’re going home. That’s how you’ve made me feel sometimes.”
“Oh my God,” she responded. “I didn’t know that. I’m so sorry.”
Kathy added that Theresa’s previous comments were “possessive” and “territorial.” Theresa responded that she was trying to be “open and honest” and Kathy said she wasn’t “buying that.”
After the conversation, Theresa broke down in tears in her bedroom, where Gerry found her and tried to comfort her. She told him, “Everybody thinks I’ve been boasting that I have a connection with you.”
He then reassured Theresa and shared, “If in your heart, you don’t believe you were boastful, if you don’t believe you were doing anything to hurt someone, then I think you should let it go.”
The Rose Ceremony
Gerry kicked off the rose ceremony by reflecting on the week’s “exceptionally good highs” and
“unfortunate lows.” He encouraged the ladies to keep the faith, adding, “So as time is passing, we need to keep hope in the journey and in the process we’re all going through.”
Faith, Sandra, Leslie, Nancy, Susan, April and Theresa received roses while Edith and Christina said their goodbyes.
After getting rose, Theresa knew her journey was only beginning with Gerry and the other women. “Today I shared things I shouldn’t have shared,” she said. “I said things I shouldn’t have said, and Kathy was very upset. I’m very sad that she was that upset and I had a really good relationship with Kathy before this all happened so I hope to have it again. I want to go forth with all good feelings.”
However, she couldn’t help but divulge more details of her and Gerry’s time together to Kathy, saying, “He came up to where I was bawling my eyes out in the bedroom.”
Kathy was shocked he went up to the bedroom and added, “Theresa, that’s the kinda stuff you need to keep to yourself.”
“I really think Theresa had no clue. I run my mouth all the time as we all know, but I’m also intuitive,” Kathy said in a confessional interview. “I think Theresa is a nice person, but I can’t figure out if she’s dumb as a rock or knows exactly what she’s doing.”
The Golden Bachelor airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.