Meet the 71-year-old 'Golden Bachelor'; show premieres this fall

Gerry Turner is ready to prove that it's never too late to find love.

ByJennifer Matarese OTRC logo
Monday, July 17, 2023
Meet The 'Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turner
"The Golden Bachelor" is 71-year-old Gerry Turner of Indiana.

NEW YORK -- "Good Morning America" unveiled "The Golden Bachelor" this Monday morning!

Gerry Turner, 71, is ready to prove that it's never too late to find love.

The patriarch from Indiana will be handing out roses when "The Golden Bachelor" premieres on ABC this fall.

Gerry Turner, the first "Golden Bachelor," is seen here in this promotional photo for the upcoming show.
Brian Bowen Smith/ABC

According to producers, Gerry lives "in his dream house on a beautiful lake" and is "often busy hosting barbecues, playing pickleball, cheering on his favorite Chicago sports teams, four-wheeling and spending time with friends and family at restaurants and local haunts."

Gerry is opening himself back up to love six years after the passing of his high school sweetheart, Toni. The couple married in 1974 and lived a full and happy life with their two daughters, Angie and Jenny, and later two granddaughters, Charlee and Payton. Toni fell ill and passed away in 2017. She had been retired for just six weeks.

"You know, she got robbed. Every day that goes by, that's the thought I have," Gerry said on "GMA."

He says that she would be in support of his new venture to have a second chance at love.

"We'd always told each other that when one of us goes we want the other one to be happy," he said. "She's up there rooting! She said, 'Yeah, Gerry! Do this!'"

The premise is the same. The "Golden Bachelor" will arrive at the Bachelor Mansion in search of love. This time, though, he brings some life experience as he looks for his next happily ever after.

The women who arrive at the mansion will be in the same position. They'll arrive having lived through love, loss and are looking for another chance at romance.

So who is Gerry's perfect woman?

She has, "High energy, someone that maybe plays pickle ball, someone that maybe plays golf," he said.

Gerry added he's not ruling out a TV wedding, "I wouldn't discount it!"

"The Golden Bachelor" is set to air Mondays this fall following "Dancing with the Stars" on ABC.