Gerry Turner Acknowledges ‘Failures’ After Wife’s Death

“The Golden Bachelor” star Gerry Turner has said he has found love again, and fans will see this play out during the November 30 finale. Spoilers regarding Turner’s final rose pick and the couple’s current status have indicated he found what he was looking for in this journey.

However, new reports about Turner’s dating life before doing the show have cast a shadow over his finale. He opened up amid the negative reports and admits he has significant regrets about how he approached dating after his wife’s death.

“One failure led to another for a variety of reasons,” he recalled of dating misfires he experienced prior to joining “The Golden Bachelor.”

Here’s what you need to know:

Turner Tried Dating & Eventually Realized He Wasn’t Ready

On November 29, Turner opened up to People about his experiences trying to date after the 2017 death of his wife and high school sweetheart, Toni. “I’ve dated a number of times since Toni’s passed, more recently than back closer to when she passed,” he explained.

Turner added, “For one reason or another, the attempts didn’t work out. I could give you a wide range of reasons, but it doesn’t really matter.”

His comments came just hours after The Hollywood Reporter released an article detailing allegations from an ex-girlfriend of his. The former girlfriend, “Carolyn,” said she was in a relationship with Turner for nearly three years. The romance began about a month after Toni’s death.

After dating for a little less than a year, the woman reportedly moved in with Turner in his Indiana lakeside home. The relationship, however, ended badly. The media outlet also shared career-related inconsistencies they uncovered about Turner’s past.

“The Golden Bachelor” star did not address any of the allegations directly, or even clearly reference them. He did admit, though, that he tried to find love again a year after his wife’s death. However, he learned, “Every time I thought I was ready, I realized I wasn’t.”

“Somehow I got it in my head that if you grieve for a year, that at the end of the year you should be OK. It absolutely wasn’t the case,” Turner told People.

‘The Golden Bachelor’ Star Eventually Pursued Grief Counseling

Several years after the death of Turner’s wife, he pursued grief counseling. “It was a difficult time. I finally decided, ‘It’s time for me to go see a grief counselor,’ because I wasn’t sure I was on track,” “The Golden Bachelor” star recalled.

Turner recalled, “I wasn’t sure I was mending properly. [Grief counseling] was probably a life changer for me.”

“The Golden Bachelor” told People he “developed one very good friendship with one woman that lives about 40 miles away in Michigan.” This friend, however, does not seem to be the same person as the ex-girlfriend who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter.

While Turner and his Michigan friend developed a good friendship, he admitted, “We realized that the romantic side of the relationship just wasn’t going to work, but we’ve seemed to maintain a nice friendship, so I feel good about that.”

He added, “If nothing else, some of the failures were offset by that one nice success.” After trying to date, Turner eventually came to believe that he might be destined to just remain alone.

Fans Have Mixed Feelings About the Allegations

“The Golden Bachelor” fans have been quite vocal about the new allegations regarding Turner and his comments about his dating failures.

One franchise fan wrote on Reddit, “He is a fake & a fraud! The article may not be completely accurate but where there’s smoke there’s FIRE!”

“Everyone has a past and it is what it is. People can totally make up a story to ruin someone. There is so much we don’t know,” countered another Redditor.

“He is human. Grief is incredibly messy. I don’t get people upset,” someone else added.

“I like him more. He just lacked any edge at all to me before. They were editing him into a baby,” countered a “Golden Bachelor” fan.

A different Reddit response to the drama read, “Note to self: do not put anybody on the pedastal (sic). do not invest in any couple. Note to producers: can you please release more previews? All I want to do is sleuth and compare screen caps!

Stacy Carey has been a freelance writer focusing on reality television and celebrity news for more than a decade. She is a Heavy contributor for The Bachelor, Hallmark and Dancing With the Stars. More about Stacy Carey