A truly golden ending!
Gerry Turner wrapped up his Golden Bachelor journey on Thursday in Costa Rica and had assistance from his daughters Jenny and Angie and granddaughters Payton and Charlie to help him decide between finalists Leslie Fhima and Theresa Nist.
“I need to know which is the right person,” Gerry, 72, said to his daughters.
Gerry recapped to his daughters that both women told him they loved him and he returned the sentiment to Leslie, 64, and Theresa, 70.
THERESA MEETS GERRY’S FAMILY
Theresa felt nervous ahead of meeting Gerry’s loved ones because “I haven’t met somebody’s family in 52 years,” she said in an on-camera interview.
When she got in front of Gerry’s daughters and granddaughters, Theresa gushed that “they couldn’t have picked a better Golden Bachelor.”
Jenny and Angie spoke privately with Theresa as she shared her story with them about marrying her high school sweetheart and eventually losing him to kidney failure.
“I went through pretty much what your dad went through, the grieving and the mourning,” Theresa said through tears.
Gerry’s daughters asked Theresa whether she’d accept a proposal from him, and Theresa said she would. “We both, at this age, say that we don’t know how much time we have and we want to make the most of every moment,” Theresa said, adding that she sees “a lot of myself in him.”
Then Gerry spoke with his daughters and gushed about Theresa. “I really like being around her, I’m not going to lie,” he said.
Angie asked her dad if his time with Theresa in the Fantasy Suite brought them closer together. When he paused, she asked, “Did you knock the boots?”
Gerry avoided the question. “We’re not talking about that,” he said.
Still, Angie liked what she heard. “I really do think I could see him getting down on one knee and them getting married,” Angie said in an on-camera interview.
Theresa and Gerry shared a kiss and exchanged “I love yous” before ending the night.
THERESA AND GERRY’S FINAL DATE
As soon as Gerry met Theresa for their last date together, he informed her that he learned the orange juice he offered her earlier when they were with his family had vodka in it. Theresa said vodka and orange juice was the first alcoholic beverage she ever tried, with her husband Billy.
“I like hearing the stories about Billy,” Gerry said to Theresa. “I really do because it helps me understand you a little more.”
Theresa told Gerry she appreciated hearing his stories about his wife Toni. “It gets more of our history, the little stories,” Theresa said.
Despite being all in on Gerry, Theresa worried about not being the only woman left. “There still is another person here, so I don’t know what exactly is going on between you, but that’s not my business,” Theresa to Gerry. “But that still is a concern.”
Gerry acknowledged the difficulty of the situation. “There’s not gonna be an easy way when two wonderful women are standing there and there’s one rose,” he said to Theresa. “That’s a pretty binary situation.”
Theresa understood and told Gerry, “I wouldn’t want you to choose me if you weren’t 1,000% wanting me and overwhelmingly wanting me.”
Gerry promised her, “It’ll be 1,000% or nothing.”
Theresa left the date hoping it would be her and Gerry in the end. “At this point, I don’t want to have a life without Gerry,” she told the cameras.
LESLIE MEETS GERRY’S FAMILY
Leslie felt confident going into the meeting with Gerry’s daughters and granddaughters. “I know that what we have is special and I don’t think it could be duplicated,” she said to the cameras.
Leslie told Gerry’s family that she appreciated how he vibed with her sense of humor right off the bat.
“I made him laugh and he got my humor, which is really important to me because not everybody thinks I’m funny,” Leslie said.
Payton and Charlie pulled Leslie to chat and the fitness instructor told them, “I love him and I want to go through life with him.”
Payton teared up hearing Leslie speak so lovingly about her grandfather. “After we met Theresa, we loved her, Charlie loved her,” Payton told the cameras. “We had our hearts set on Theresa. And now, Leslie, she’s great.”
Leslie reiterated her dedication to Gerry to his daughters. “‘Till death do us part, that’s all I ever wanted,” Leslie said. “He is the man of my dreams, he really is.”
Gerry and his daughters touched base after meeting with Leslie, and Jenny told Gerry she thought Leslie had “some pretty strong feelings” for Gerry.
Gerry told the cameras he had to make “the biggest decision I have made in the last 55 years.”
“I feel really good now after meeting your family,” Leslie said to Gerry.
But Leslie thought she noticed a shift in Gerry. “I feel like I can read Gerry now and I could tell he wasn’t quite himself today,” Leslie said in an on-camera interview. “Just his mannerisms were a little different.”
LESLIE AND GERRY’S FINAL DATE
At their last date, Leslie called Gerry out about her suspicion. “I could tell you weren’t your usual Gerry self,” she said to the Golden Bachelor.
Gerry cited the “stress and pressure” of the show for “kind of getting to me” and apologized to Leslie. He told her wanted to “turn a page” and they toasted with red wine.
From there, Leslie presented Gerry with a leather-bound book of photos of their journey. “I love you very, very much,” Leslie said to Gerry.
Instead of saying “I love you” back to Leslie, Gerry simply said, “I know, I could feel it.”
They hugged as Leslie started crying before the date came to an end. “Something you want to tell me?” Leslie asked Gerry.
“No, just that I have a tough decision to make,” Gerry said to Leslie. “It’s harder than I ever thought possible.”
They each continued crying after parting ways. “I’m definitely not confident now,” Leslie said. “I know why he was off today. I know exactly why.”
Gerry felt he owed it to Leslie to tell her why and he went back and talked to her.
“You asked me if there was something I had to say to you,” Gerry began. “It’s been difficult. And I’ve kind of made a decision about how I want to go about this. And I have fallen in love with Theresa. And that’s the direction I’m going to take.”
“So everything you told me the other night was a lie,” Leslie said, referring to their overnight date.
Gerry denied that. “No, because at that time, that was the truth,” he said. “Things have changed, things have evolved.”
Leslie asked Gerry where their relationship went wrong.
“It didn’t go wrong,” Gerry said. “I’ve worked hard to learn as much about you and about Theresa as I possibly could. You’re both wonderful, but only one of you is right. Leslie, I am so sorry. Believe me, had I known this would be how much pain I would cause someone, I would’ve never taken the first step on this journey.”
Leslie felt misled. “The other night, you made it sound like you chose me,” she said to Gerry. “You said things to me that made me think that this was going to be it. You led me down a path and then you took a turn and left me there and that’s how I feel. It’s mind-boggling, to be honest, how you can talk to me all night, tell me you love me and then one day — not even a day, 12 hours later — you changed your mind.”
She appreciated, at least, that he dumped her before proposal day.
“Now I don’t have to walk down in that $60,000 dress with the diamond earrings and get on that platform and be completely embarrassed,” Leslie said. “Now it’s just here. And that I thank you for.”
Knowing he couldn’t say anything to assuage the situation, Gerry saw himself out.
“I took a really good person and f — -ing broke their heart,” Gerry said to host Jesse Palmer. “I hate myself and I hate everything right now. I think the only time I’ve ever felt worse in my whole life is when my wife passed away and this is a Goddamn close second. She’s a good person and I f — -ed her over.”
LESLIE SITS DOWN IN THE STUDIO
When Jesse, 45, brought Leslie out during After the Final Rose, she told him that she felt “blindsided” by the breakup.
“I was 100% certain that I was his girl,” Leslie said. “And things he said to me on our overnight and meeting his family, I mean, they didn’t show everything, but we had such a good time.”
Jesse brought Gerry out to come face to face with Leslie for the first time since he dumped her.
“Because of your integrity, your words meant so much to me,” Leslie said to Gerry. “I didn’t take them for granted, I took them and put them in my heart. Everybody knows what was said on camera but only you and I know what was said on the overnight. And I would never share that with anyone. It’s our private time. But those words gave me 100% certainty that I was your girl and we were going to get engaged.”
Leslie told Gerry she felt so confident after their Fantasy Suite date that “I went out and picked out the most beautiful blue dress, the color of our eyes” to wear for their engagement.
“I wasn’t sure what changed or what happened,” Leslie said.
Gerry said he “got caught up in moments” while filming. “You were the person I believed was my person until I suddenly knew you weren’t,” Gerry continued, later adding, “it didn’t really go wrong, Leslie, it just … it was better with someone else.”
PROPOSAL DAY
Gerry entered the final day of his journey looking for his late wife’s blessing.
“When I looked towards the volcano, I was asking Toni if this was the right thing to do,” Gerry told the cameras. “I’m saying a prayer, and my prayers go to her.”
Theresa arrived to meet Gerry on finale day not knowing that he eliminated Leslie already. But she still laid it all out.
“I know how sometimes it feels like the whole world thinks love is only for the young, and quite honestly, at the age of 70, I was beginning to feel that myself,” Theresa admitted. “After Billy died, I was at the point where I thought I’m going to live the rest of my life alone, until I met you and I saw you smile and I thought, oh my God! What am I feeling here?”
She continued, “I’m so madly in love with you, Gerry, and I feel that for us, life isn’t over, the best is yet to come.”
Gerry told Theresa he woke up with “mixed feelings.”
“And I got to the point with the questions I had asked myself about how did I get here? And is she the right girl?” Gerry said. “And I came to the realization that you’re not the right person for me to live with. You’re the person that I can’t live without. I love you 1,000%.”
Gerry proceeded to drop down on one knee and ask Theresa, “Will you marry me?”
Theresa said “yes” and Gerry offered her his final rose, a golden one that will never wilt.
In the studio with Jesse, the former NFL player asked Gerry and Theresa what, exactly, changed for them in the Fantasy Suite. Gerry cited that Theresa “knew how to maintain and nurture a relationship because of her and Billy, they had a successful 43 years of marriage.”
Theresa slyly added, “I knocked his boots off … no, with my kisses!”
Jesse surprised the couple with a trip to Italy and Gerry suggested they could use it as a honeymoon after he and Theresa tied the knot, which they wanted to do as soon as possible.
“We’re going to do it as quickly as we can because at our age, we don’t have a lot of time to waste,” Gerry said. “So yeah, as quickly as we can put together a wedding plan, we’re getting married.”
Jesse shared one more surprise: “Gerry and Theresa are getting married and guess what, we’re invited to the wedding because it will be live on ABC Jan. 4.”
The Golden Wedding will air Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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