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Gerry Turner is about to make history as the first-ever Golden Bachelor. But don’t think you’re getting dentures and hip replacements — this grandpa aged like fine wine. And after losing his wife of 43 years in 2017, he’s finally ready to find love again.
On this morning’s episode of Good Morning America, ABC unveiled the first-ever star of its new senior dating show — which was first teased in 2020, before being officially confirmed earlier this year.
“He posts his thirst traps in a leather-bound album. His DMs have postage. He gets the early bird special any time he wants,” a voiceover says in the playful promo, per Entertainment Weekly. “If you call him, he’ll answer the phone. He doesn’t have gray hair, he has ‘wisdom highlights.’ Florida wants to retire and move to him.”
According to ABC’s bio, Turner enjoys hosting barbecues, playing pickleball, cheering on his favorite Chicago sports teams, four-wheeling and hanging out with friends and family at “local restaurants and haunts.” In fact, he’s so active that he makes most 20-year-olds I know seem like geriatrics.
Moreover, the retired restauranteur, who lives in his “dream house” on a lake in Indiana, married his high school sweetheart, Toni, in 1974. Together, they went on to have two daughters and two granddaughters. However, Toni “suddenly fell ill and passed away” six years ago.
“Six years after Toni’s passing and with the support of his family, Turner is ready to put himself out there and find a love that will stand the test of time in his golden years,” the bio reads.
While speaking to GMA, Turner said he believes his wife would have been “rooting” him on in his new venture.
“I have her picture on a dresser in my closet,” he explained. “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.”
For more than 20 years, The Bachelor — and its spinoffs — has been helping attractive singles find their forever person … with mixed results. In the beloved series’ latest spinoff, The Golden Bachelor, “one hopeless romantic is given a second chance at love in the search for a partner with whom to share the sunset years of life.”
The Golden Bachelor premieres this fall on ABC.
