The Golden Bachelor‘s first leading man, Gerry Turner, instantly gained fans thanks to his charming personality and tragic love story. The facade came crashing down when an ex-girlfriend threw Gerry under the bus, and an insider tells In Touch exclusively that producers knew about his controversial dating history before the season aired.
“They vetted Gerry thoroughly,” the Bachelor insider tells In Touch. “How could they not know?”
The source assures that Gerry, 72, understood why the network wanted to keep his dating history out of the spotlight, clarifying that he “isn’t throwing producers under the bus.”
“It was a better storyline to say he hadn’t kissed another woman,” the source says of Gerry, who claimed as part of the show’s narrative that he hadn’t kissed another woman since his wife Toni’s death in 2017. “He did lie and he regrets it.”
The vetting process for the senior dating show was famously in-depth, with Gerry previously speaking about the extensive background check required before he could assume the position of the very first Golden Bachelor.
According to Gerry, producers sent his fingerprints to the FBI, made him take a “360 question” psychological evaluation and issued him an STD test before he was officially cast.
“That may have been my very first STD test,” Gerry told Justin Long during an appearance on the actor’s “Life Is Short” podcast. “I had no idea what was gonna happen. I didn’t know if they were gonna look in the iris of my eye, take a urine sample [or] a blood sample,” Gerry admitted about the “ridiculously thorough” process.
Despite Gerry’s claims that he hadn’t been in a relationship since Toni’s death, his ex’s claims hit The Hollywood Reporter’s website just one day before The Golden Bachelor season finale.
As it turned out, the widower who said he “hadn’t dated in 45 years” had been in a serious relationship, reaching out to his ex — who went by Carolyn — just one month after his wife died.
Heather Lanning-Adams, who worked at a bar Gerry frequented, said she was “flabbergasted” when Gerry told cameras he hadn’t been kissed in six years.
“He dated a couple of women…. They weren’t all short-term, either,” Heather told the outlet.
But his dating history wasn’t the only thing Gerry was dishonest about. He also “bent the truth” about his career and financial situation on the hit ABC show, according to a separate Bachelor insider.
Though he spoke fondly about his long career as a restauranteur, Gerry left out the fact that he had sold his fast food franchise in 1985 and began a second act of sorts, working in maintenance.
“Gerry has money, but he’s not as financially well off as he claimed,” the second source told Life & Style exclusively on Tuesday, December 12.
Despite the scandal, Gerry’s fiancée, Theresa Nist, is “happy” in their relationship and sticking by him, a third source told Life & Style on December 4, noting that she has already “moved past” the bombshell regarding Gerry’s love life.
“Theresa knows that it’s a show at the end of the day, the producers cherry pick how they want the story told,” the insider said.
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