‘The Golden Bachelor’ Gerry Turner’s Ex Girlfriend Speaks Out in Shocking Exposé
The Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner is a big phony, we said, and according to the 72-year-old’s secret ex-girlfriend, she may be inclined to agree.
Turner touted the idea that he hadn’t gone out on a date before appearing on the reality show following the death of his wife and detailed his work history as a restaurateur, but The Hollywood Reporter has discovered several apparent inconsistencies in his story.
Despite being labeled a “retired restaurateur” on the show, Gerry’s last restaurant ownership dates back to 1985 when he sold his Mr. Quick hamburger drive-in franchise. Contrary to the show’s portrayal of his retirement at 55 in 2006, his LinkedIn profile reveals a subsequent career in sales and management in the meat industry, with no specified end date. Unmentioned on the show are his post-retirement jobs, such as installing hot tubs and working as a maintenance man at the Vera French Mental Health Center in Davenport, Iowa.
During the latter role, Gerry reportedly had a nearly three-year relationship with a woman called Carolyn, who was 14 years his junior and a staff accountant at a mental health center. This is said to have started just a month after his wife’s passing. This information is sourced from interviews with Carolyn, confidants, and text messages with Gerry, among other documents obtained by THR.
At the Davenport mental health community, Carolyn befriended Gerry, where he gained admiration among his colleagues and patients. A retirement party was arranged by Carolyn and the staff when Gerry left to move to the lake with his wife, Toni.
They all got the shocking news that she passed in July 2017, but by September, Turner was already making his move on Carolyn.
During a call, Gerry informed Carolyn that he was coming to Davenport to handle his late wife’s estate and requested that she donate Toni’s corporate wardrobe to Dress for Success. Carolyn gladly agreed, and as a gesture of gratitude, Gerry treated her to dinner afterward.
“The idea that I’d go out with a recent widower just mortifies me,” Carolyn told the outlet. “I just really didn’t see it. Until I went back and looked at my text messages, I never realized Gerry’s texts had turned hot and heavy so relatively soon.”
After a year of long-distance dating, she moved into his Big Long Lake home at the end of July 2018.
However, Carolyn’s serene time at Big Long Lake with Gerry was interrupted when she prepared for his high school reunion in October 2019.
Gerry is said to have expressed dissatisfaction with her appearance and pointed out a minor weight gain of 10 pounds. This disapproval led to their breakup, with Gerry instructing Carolyn to vacate the premises by January 1, 2020.
He offered to cover her U-Haul expenses, but thence fell down the stairs while packing, resulting in ER treatment and foot surgery. Most shockingly, THR reports that Gerry accused her of using the injury as an excuse to prolong her stay and potentially sue him. In the midst of winter, Gerry insisted she stay in a hotel during the final week of her two-week notice before leaving her job, making it challenging for Carolyn, with her walker, to reach her car.
“I really wish this would’ve worked out,” she remembers him telling her. “Call me when you get to your hotel so I know you made it safe.”
Turner has manufactured this perfect persona on television and failed to mention his life outside being a widow in order to propagate that persona, it seems. Although he laments over all the hearts he broke on the ABC show, it turns out he’d just done it a few years ago.
If nothing else, with all the news surfacing during the show, the inevitable reunion special will be entertaining following this week’s finale.
The Golden Bachelor, Season Finale, Thursday, November 30, 8/7c, ABC
