The newest franchise lead is still looking good in his 70s!
Gerry Turner is feeling good at 71! The first lead of The Golden Bachelor appeared on the latest episode of the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast and revealed how he's looking good and staying fit in his golden years.
"I think the real secret is genetics," he told hosts Serena Pitt and Joe Amabile with a laugh, before sharing some of his secret sauce.
"[I'm a] marathon runner, high school [and] college athlete. I try to eat well. I fail a lot of that, you know," he said. "I think it's just, in general, trying to stay healthy. I probably spend 10 hours a week playing pickleball, so that burns off a lot of energy."
Given his own fitness, Gerry said he's looking for a partner that likes to stay active too.
"I would want someone, in their own way, that's fit," he said. "If they're tall or short, those kind of things don't matter. Are they getting the most out of their physical attributes? Are they refusing to give up?"
With that in mind, it makes sense that Gerry's dream date involves some time on a pickleball court or out on the links.
"I would want that date to include some activity, so I would know that we can engage together," he said. "It'd be nice if there was an activity where I would know how well we would work as a unit. A pickleball date or a golf date would be great. I think those kind of things are pretty revealing of people's characters."
He'd also hope the date would be "focused heavily on conversation," where he and the lucky lady "can talk about priorities, we can talk about whether or not the person is interested in being married."
As for how he will balance courting multiple women in his role, Gerry admitted that it's something he's given "a lot of thought" to.
"The thing that I spend a lot of time doing is trying to figure out what are the good questions to ask that will reveal character, and will reveal whether or not someone is genuinely a high-energy competitive person," he said. "Really important is, how close are they to family? I've dated a few women along the way and it's very revealing when someone doesn't have good, friendly ties with their children. It manifests in a number of negative ways."
Gerry has children and grandchildren of his own, all of whom are "over-the-top supportive" of his upcoming journey.
"I have two granddaughters -- one is 21, one is 16 -- and they're very adept at finding comments and the things online, and so they're firing me stuff nonstop about things that are being said. It's hilarious, but they are loving it," he said. "My two daughters then of course, they're a little bit older -- I have one that's 40 and one that's 46 -- they're sort of in between, so they're getting some of the online stuff, but an awful lot of feedback from their personal friends. That is genuinely part of the fun of this experience, seeing all the people that are my close circle having so much fun with it."
Gerry is looking for love following the death of his high school sweetheart, Toni. The pair started dating in the '60s and were together until her death in 2017.
"I think she would be very pleased," he said of how his late wife would react to his new role. "I have a picture of her in my walk-in closet, so every night I'm in there and I see her picture... We talk. I'll make a brief comment, or sometimes that talk is silent. But here lately in the last couple of months, my question for her is always, 'So what do you think of this? Am I doing the right thing?' And I really have strong positive feelings about it. I think she would be very happy."
As for how he's feeling, Gerry, who's become a fan of the Bachelor franchise in recent years, said he wants "life to slow down" so he can appreciate everything that's happening.
"I'm really most excited for that first night when I get to see all of the women and get a first impression. That is really a moment that I think sort of sets the tone mentally for me," he said, before explaining why he's not nervous for that moment.
"People have asked me so many times, 'Are you nervous?' and I've said, 'No, I'm really not,' that I'm beginning to think I'm super naive and I need to be more nervous," Gerry joked. "I'm more nervous about stepping on a rake and breaking my nose here at home than I am anything about the show. It doesn't make me nervous. It makes me excited. I feel energized."
At the end of the day, Gerry said he's hoping to "find the next right person for me."
"Being in the fourth quarter of life you don't want to give up, so hopefully it happens," he said. "I'm very optimistic."
The Golden Bachelor will premiere this fall on ABC.
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