Gerry Turner’s reputation took a hit as allegations surfaced that The Golden Bachelor star misled viewers about his relationships and occupation.
Gerry Turner may have tried his hand at gaining stardom through the reality television series The Golden Bachelor, but it seems not all things worked out in the TV personality’s favor. An addition to ABC’s The Bachelor franchise, his series brought about the genuine depth and sensitivity rarely seen on reality TV shows, and the 72-year-old was a heartthrob in little to no time.
However, as it turns out, while his onscreen reputation may have established him as a grieving widower who lost his wife of 43 years, his stature offscreen reportedly doesn’t stand as tall and empathy-worthy. This comes after reports surfaced about Turner manipulating women by allegedly lying about his s-x life outside of the series – something that fans never forgave him for.
Gerry Turner’s Alleged Lies Outside of The Golden Bachelor Unveiled
Onscreen, The Golden Bachelor portrayed Gerry Turner as the perfect hopeless romantic who is given a second chance at love while in search of a partner who could share the sunset years of his life with him. Chivalrous, an eager listener, and an easy-to-talk-to person, this “Golden Boy” felt like the ultimate man cooked up in some “Perfect Man lab”.
But while this charismatic magic, which didn’t take long to pull not only the lady contestants but also viewers under his charms, depicted Turner as, perhaps, the man of every woman’s dream, not all things shared live have been all true for the TV personality. Apparently, the 72-year-old has been allegedly manipulating women by lying to them about his s-x life outside of the reality TV show.
Reports claim that this very golden guy has had romantic entanglements that contradict the picture he has been portraying on the screen. While Turner made his character even more compelling after claiming to Entertainment Tonight, “I mean, I haven’t dated in 45 years,” it seems he hasn’t entirely been truthful about it, as per the background-checked allegations against him.
According to reports from The Hollywood Reporter, Turner was reportedly in a nearly three-year relationship with a woman – who requested anonymity to protect her privacy. She is reportedly 14 years his junior and was a staff accountant at the mental health center he worked at (more on this later). They dated for 10 months before moving in together for 21 months.
What’s more, is that this relationship reportedly started around a month after his wife’s death. This, inevitably, contradicted all the details he claimed onscreen about not having dated or even having a love life ever since his wife of 43 years died of an infection – a tragic incident that happened a mere month after the two moved into their “dream” retirement house on Big Long Lake in Hudson, Indiana.
If that wasn’t enough, he further seems to have lied about his occupation as well. As per the show, he retired at the young age of 55 after being a “restaurateur.” However, his LinkedIn profile differed as it claimed that he last owned a restaurant nearly four decades ago in 1985, when he sold his Mr. Quick hamburger drive-in franchise in Iowa (via THR).
Additionally, his LinkedIn profile also seems to have revealed that he held multiple sales and management positions in the meat business. His further “post-retirement” works included installing hot tubs at Gannon Pools near Davenport, Iowa, and working as a maintenance man at the Vera French Mental Health Center in the same area – yes, the same one mentioned before.
All of this being said, these were, unarguably, a lot of alleged lies that the reality TV series so seemingly disconnected from reality seems to have depicted. And fans, for one, never forgave Gerry Turner for allegedly lying to women and manipulating them about his s-x life outside of The Golden Bachelor, even after he chose Theresa Nist as the winner of the show.
Fans Were Mad as Hell at Gerry Turner for All His Alleged Lies
While his claiming he hadn’t dated in a long time ever since his wife died and hadn’t kissed any women either was one thing, all of these reports surfacing about his ex-girlfriend and the past he seems to have lied about landed a terrible blow on the golden boy’s reputation.
As per The U.S. Sun, Gerry Turner even reportedly ‘dated multiple women’ before joining the show. This comes after Heather Lanning, his good friend who used to work at The Shady Nook next to his Indiana lakehouse confessed to the news site:
“He dated a couple of women. They weren’t long-term, but they weren’t short-term either. He was with a couple of women for a decent amount of time, but it just didn’t work out.”
Needless to say, fans have been beyond enraged at him ever since. For a vague idea of how they reacted to it all, here are some of the comments they left behind on a clip of these very reports shared by Inside Edition on YouTube:
I had a feeling he wasn’t as good as he was pretending to be. I still don’t believe you can fall in love with 3 people at the same time. And telling all 3 you love them is tacky. – @melaniegee
The worst thing about betrayal is that it doesn’t come from your enemies – Marlon Brando – @Dupontman627
Once a liar…. always. – @blessedgraceindeed
I think he’s creepy. He’s a liar. He also told the final few women he loved them. He threw around the “L” word way too much. – @marieneu264
I wouldn’t judge him for not kissing anyone after losing his wife to cancer. But lying about employment and finances is a huge red flag. – @angelmushahf
Knew he was too good to be true – @maryjackson9816
All of this being said, what Gerry Turner allegedly did is, indeed, rather infuriating, as all of these fan reactions can’t help but point out. At the same time, these reports further serve as a testament that even reality television shows aren’t as real as they’re depicted, as the glossy layer they’re polished with is actually too good to be true more often than not.
