'The Golden Bachelor' Recap: Gerry finds clarity in 'Fantasy Suite' dates

NEW YORK -- It's Fantasy Suite Week on "The Golden Bachelor!" All of your burning questions about intimacy in your 60's and 70's will be answered, maybe. Gerry is in Costa Rica and planning on getting engaged to the second love of his life, but he still has to decide between Leslie and Theresa. He says that he is in love with BOTH women. He is hoping that clarity will come with these dates.

Jesse Palmer and Gerry Talk

"Do people my age still knock boots and have a good time behind closed doors?" Gerry said. The answer is yes! He loves the idea of pillow talk and says the level of communication goes up because the barriers go down. He's coming at this very pragmatically.

Gerry says he can see Leslie being a life partner because every layer has been a different color to her personality. "She is so authentic about what she does," Gerry said. He said that he felt a flutter with her and he had a reaction to the words, "I love you," with her.

"There is a nice warm, safe, secure feeling with Theresa. She has a hole in her heart just like I do," Gerry said. It sounds like they have a lot in common and they connect and "get" each other. She professed her love and although he hasn't said it back. He said it was out of caution, but he does love her. "If I say it again, I want to make sure that it's the right moment and the right feel," Gerry said.

Jesse Palmer asked him how important intimacy is in a relationship to him, and Gerry asked, "How do you define intimacy?" Jesse turned a few shades of red and whispered, "Sexually. How babies get made," HA! Gerry said that he doesn't plan on passing up on it, but he wants the moment to be right. "I want to make sure that her comfort level is as complete as can possibly be," Gerry said. At this age, "It's more gentle, it's slow, it's something you can savor," he added.

Leslie's Fantasy Suite Date

Leslie was up first. Gerry revealed to her that they were going to rappel down a 170-foot waterfall! She said she'd rather zipline, but she was up for the challenge. She admitted that she was afraid of heights and had never done anything like this before. "I gave birth three times, I should be able to do this," Leslie said. "I'll stay with you," Gerry said. Side by side, they lowered themselves down as the waterfall flowed beside them. It was scary when they hit the slippery rocks, but nevertheless, they did it! And shared a kiss in the process. "Now we have a story to tell!" Gerry said.

Once they were at the bottom, they sat in the water and Gerry tried to get to know Leslie even better. She said that honesty is her big thing. He said that he knows he has a lot more about her that he needs to uncover before deciding to be "intimate." Sure, sure.

At dinner, Gerry wants to make sure that Leslie is really all in and wants to spend the rest of their lives together. He thinks she isn't asking him the "hard questions." Leslie asked him when the last time he had sex was, and he laughed! He told her, "It's been a long time." "It's been a year for me," Leslie said. "What would our life look like in respect to how we would live, where we would live," he asked her. She told him that she doesn't want to say goodbye to Minneapolis forever because her kids and grandkids are there, but she sees them probably splitting their time in both locations. Gerry said that if they decide to do this, "We are fully committed to each other and it is indeed until death do us part." Leslie teared up and said, "Till death do us part is something that is foreign to me because I've never had that. But I've been searching for it my whole life," Leslie said. She talked about how every year she had a birthday and ended up alone and she wants to do it and for him to help her through it. "I'm not afraid of the commitment at all," Leslie said. She's leaning on the fact that he knows how to have a long-lasting committed relationship and thinks he can teach her how to be in one. "It's ok, I gotcha," Gerry said. "I want to do that too," Leslie said. "Then we will," Gerry said. Wow. This is the deepest "Bachelor" conversation I think we've ever really gotten to experience on the "Bachelor" series as a whole. He offered her the fantasy suite card and they were both in! They got up and left for their beautifully adorned luxury hotel room and they had a toast to growing their relationship. Gerry said that it's nerve-wracking to bare yourself entirely to someone, but he was ready for it. "I think you're the one," Gerry said to Leslie. "I have to have you with morning coffee when I go to bed at night, and in between," he said. "I think there is no one else I'd rather try to figure it out with." Is this it? Is Leslie the one?

The next day, they shared coffee in bed and said that they had a great night together, but not enough sleep. They didn't fall asleep until 2:30 a.m. Gerry that their relationship has significantly improved.

Theresa's Fantasy Suite Date

In the spirit of compartmentalization, Gerry headed into his date with Theresa. He's struggling a bit with the quick turnaround, but he's going to give it his best shot. She is all in and in love with Gerry and just hopes he feels the same way. She leaped into his arms when she saw him! He took her for a walk where two horses were waiting for them to ride through the jungle. They saw monkeys and other wildlife, but Gerry was super quiet. He's just riding in silence. Theresa was growing concerned.

They sat down on a bench and talked about the struggle he was having. She did such an amazing job relaying her feelings to him and being sympathetic to the situation he is in. Theresa expresses her love and her vision for their possible future together, their families, and how she can see a life with him. I think this started to pull Gerry out of his head and back into their relationship.

That evening, they sat down to dinner and he wanted to see if they could move beyond their pasts and into the future. Can they explore new ground? Gerry asks Theresa about what she does for a living and he was very impressed. She built her career in finance from the ground up and he said he could tell she really has her life together. Theresa said that she would retire if she had a reason to, like a partner in her life. She said that she decided to do "The Golden Bachelor" because she had basically given up. She said that she felt she was meant to find Gerry, and that it was fate, because it's got to be why she never said yes to anyone else. She has never been with anyone other than her husband. "It's extremely important to me," Theresa told Gerry. They talked to each other about the private conversations they have in their heads with their deceased spouses, and they thought that their partners would have been in support of them finding happiness. "I'm seeing more clearly the questions I need answers," Gerry said. "I didn't even have a grasp on what I didn't know." This date is truly opening Gerry's eyes to who Theresa is and how she could fit into his life.

Theresa accepted the Fantasy Suite date card! They went into the suite and seemingly had an intimate night together. "Had I closed off a bit, I might have missed the opportunity of a lifetime with someone," Gerry said. The next morning, they recount their whirlwind date and say, "I love you." "Waking up to Theresa this morning, I feel like it's the first day of the rest of my life," Gerry says they understand each other on a fundamental level. "Alright we have grandkids watching so we're not going to go crazy," Gerry said to Theresa as they tried to stop kissing each other.

Coming Up

Gerry has told Leslie and Theresa that he loves them and they both love him back. They both want to marry him. Gerry said that he's dying inside because he doesn't want to hurt anyone, but he knows there can only be one. His daughters arrive for the finale episode to help him make his big decision, although it seems he knows what he wants to do. Gerry says he is going to propose!

"I took a really good person and broke their heart," Gerry says of the woman he had to let go. Who will it be? We won't find out until the Thursday after the Thanksgiving holiday, November 30th!

"The Golden Bachelor" airs Thursday nights with "Bachelor in Paradise" following on ABC.