What to know about The Golden Bachelor’s Gerry Turner (age, job, Instagram, and more)

Who’s ready for another new dating show? The Bachelor franchise is expanding, this time taking a focus on seniors looking for love. That’s right, I’m talking about The Golden Bachelor! The new series premieres on Thursday, Sept. 28, and will see 71-year-old Gerry Turner take center stage to find love after loss. This show will likely look pretty different than the flagship series, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, and I’m so excited for some (hopefully) wholesome content.

Gerry’s got 22 women between the ages of 60 and 75 competing for his final rose, and his journey begins this evening. So if you’re wondering what you should know about the eligible bachelor ahead of the episode or while you’re watching, look no further.

Who is The Golden Bachelor’s Gerry Turner?

Here are the high-level basics about Gerry:

• Age: 71
• Job: Retired restaurateur
• Instagram: @goldengerryturner
• Home state: Indiana
• Height: Conflicting reports saying between 5’9 and 6’2; we’ll update if we’re able to confirm

According to Gerry’s bio page on ABC, he seems like a complete thrill-seeker and sports-lover, enjoying activities like four-wheeling and playing pickleball. He’s also a family man who frequently hosts barbeques at his “dream house” on a lake in Indiana. That sounds super romantic. He has two daughters, Angie and Jenny, along with two granddaughters, Charlee and Payton. Based on the images and promos for the season, we’re expecting to meet Gerry’s family as he embarks on a journey of a lifetime.

Gerry was previously married and sadly, his wife Toni passed away in 2017 after contracting a bacterial infection. As told in a recent feature from The New York Times, Gerry took his wife to the hospital and she died just eight days later. How heartbreaking. The two had saved up enough to retire and buy their lakehouse, but sadly, Toni’s life was taken before they could fully enjoy it together. Now, six years after Toni’s death, Gerry is ready to invite a new woman into his life.

After Toni’s death, Gerry tried dating, but nothing serious came out of it. In an interview with People Magazine, he says he gave up on romance after not being able to find the one:

"“One failure led to another for a variety of reasons. It was actually about three and a half or four years, I just finally realized that, ‘OK, I’m happy with myself. If I am going to be alone, I can deal with it.’”"

But of course, his tune eventually changed to the point where he felt “more optimistic” and “more positive” about the idea of dating once more. And that’s when he decided to give The Golden Bachelor a shot.

Gerry’s Instagram page must be fairly new because he only has six posts, but two personal ones prove he loves his family, his dogs, and sports. See him cheering for the Iowa Hawkeyes, the college football team of the University of Iowa, here. Though his ABC bio says he roots for Chicago sports, Gerry attended the University of Iowa, so it makes sense why he reps their team. According to his LinkedIn page, he studied Science, Research and Education in college.

Gerry isn’t looking for fame from The Golden Bachelor

While speaking to The New York Times, Gerry discussed his reasoning in applying for the show and made it clear that he’s not looking for fame out of this, just true love. Though he had been a fan of The Bachelor franchise, he was kind of turned off by the show because of some of the drama. But when he saw the casting call for The Golden Bachelor, he decided to take a chance.

"“I don’t know what it means to be a ‘grandzaddy’ and I don’t know what ‘rizz’ is, and I really don’t know what it means to be trending,” Gerry tells The New York Times. “All those things are kind of immaterial to me. They don’t matter.”"

In an interview with LIVE with Kelly and Mark, Gerry talked about the fact that all of the women on the show are above the age of 60, noting that he actually finds more connections with women older than that due to cultural differences and different tastes. In a promo for the season, Gerry chatted with his daughters and granddaughters about what he’s looking for out of the show.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to think of the show when ABC first started posting casting calls and Gerry was announced as the lead, but now that I’m learning more about him, I’m feeling such a wholesome vibe. He’s ready to find his happiness again after suffering a major loss and he deserves that! Now, let’s cross our fingers that he isn’t like so many of the Bachelor leads who have treated some of the women not-so-nicely. I’m hoping for a relatively drama-free season, something Gerry has pretty much confirmed:

"“In general, [the contestants] were very supportive of each other,” Gerry told People Magazine. “To the best of my knowledge, there was only one minor and almost insignificant incident. It was remarkably problem free. It was literally after the first or second rose ceremony that they made a comment that they’ve already made plans for an annual reunion.”"

Will you be watching The Golden Bachelor every Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. ET? For those who are looking for drama, new episodes of Bachelor in Paradise season 9 air right after The Golden Bachelor at 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC. Now that’ll be a whole different show, I’m sure of it!

We’ll continue covering The Golden Bachelor here at Hidden Remote, so check back in with us as the season progresses!