New 'Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turner Is 71 Years Old & His Backstory Is Actually Heartbreaking
"We always told each other, when one of us goes, we want the other one to be happy."
Gerry Turner.
The next eligible heartthrob on ABC's The Bachelor is a little older than usual.
Next season's leading man will be Gerry Turner, a 71-year-old grandpa looking for a second chance at love.
"Gerry Turner, a charming 71-year-old patriarch from Indiana, is the first Golden Bachelor, showcasing that love stories only get better with age," read's ABC's press release.
ABC says that after years of "fostering" young love on shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise , they've decided to move on to another generation and focus on finding Turner a lovely woman to spend his "sunset years with."
Most contestants on the show have ranged in age from their early 20s to 30s, so it will be interesting to see what age demographics are brought in for the Golden Bachelor.
ABC says the women arriving "have a lifetime of experience, living through love, loss and laughter," and they are " hoping for a spark that ignites a future full of endless possibilities."
Turner was married to his high school sweetheart Toni Turner for 43 years, but she passed away from an illness in 2017, just weeks after she retired, according to Good Morning America (GMA).
"She got robbed," said Turner. "Every day that goes by, that's the thought I have."
Turner has two daughters with his late wife and two granddaughters. One of them is 22 years old, which would make her old enough to be a Bachelor contestant herself.
The women for the Golden Bachelor have not been announced yet, so we'll have to wait and see who they pick in terms of their ages.
Turner told GMA that he thinks his late wife would be "rooting" for him to find love.
"I have her picture on a dresser in my closet," said Turner.
"Every morning I give her the nod, 'So what do you think about this?' For a while it was like I was having a hard time figuring out if she would be OK. But we always told each other, when one of us goes, we want the other one to be happy."
The Golden Bachelor will air this in the fall of 2023, so fans of the franchise will just have to wait to see how this fine wine of love ages!