The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner has revealed that the women’s ages did, in fact, play a role in his decision-making when figuring out whom to eliminate week after week during filming.

Retired restaurateur Gerry Turner, a 72-year-old from Indiana, began filming The Golden Bachelor in early August, and the show just premiered Thursday, September 28 on ABC.

RELATED LINK: ‘THE BACHELOR’ FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Gerry had 22 beautiful and poised bachelorettes to choose from on Night 1, and they were all between the ages of 60 and 75.

“You start with these women and they’re so supportive of each other and so confident. They’re elegant women, and, as a group, I think the sweetest women I’ve ever met in my life!” Gerry gushed during a September 27 appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark.

But as Gerry got to know the women better, he apparently had an easier time bonding with the more “golden” ladies in the group.

“I actually found that some of the younger women, there was even a little bit of an issue with cultural and humor references and music references and so forth,” Gerry revealed.

“So I tended to move up the scale rather than down,” he added.

The youngest women in Gerry’s cast on Night 1 were Edith, 60, a retired realtor from Downey, CA; Faith Martin, 60, a high school teacher from Benton City, WA; Joan, 60, a private school administrator from Rockland, MD; Maria, 60, a health and wellness director from Teaneck, NJ; Marina, 60, an educator from Los Angeles, CA; Nancy, 60, a retired interior designer from Alexandria, VA; and Natascha, 60, a pro-aging coach and midlife speaker from New York, NY.

However only one of the seven 60-year-old women failed to receive a rose from Gerry by the conclusion of the Night 1 cocktail party in which The Golden Bachelor star narrowed his group of suitors to sixteen bachelorettes.

In addition to Maria, Gerry also eliminated Anna, a 61-year-old retired nutritionist from Summit, NJ; Pamela, a 75-year-old retired salon owner from Aurora, IL; Patty James, a 70-year-old retired real estate professional from Durham, NC; Renee, 67, a former Chicago Honey Bear Cheerleader from Middleton, WI; and Sylvia, 64, a public affairs consultant from Los Angeles, CA.

Gerry said that after his wife Toni died from complications from a bacterial infection in 2017 and he felt ready to put himself out there again, he tried to date — with a set of rules in place for himself.

“I had two rules: they had to be over 60 and within 60 miles of where I lived,” Gerry shared.

“And usually, almost always, it was well over 60. A new relationship is difficult to start anyway, and when there’s travel time involved, it just makes it that much tougher.”

RELATED LINK: ‘THE BACHELOR’ COUPLES NOW: WHO DID ‘THE BACHELOR’ STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

Gerry therefore didn’t have much success dating at home, but he recently teased that The Golden Bachelor may have had a very happy ending!

“This is a great day, isn’t it?” Gerry teased Entertainment Weekly earlier this month, suggesting he may currently be in love.

“I’m so pleasantly surprised by how things ended, there’s absolutely no regrets.”

Gerry previously told BachelorNation.com that he had developed strong feelings for multiple women on The Golden Bachelor and it was a “confusing” and “conflicting” time, but when Kelly Ripa asked Gerry on her talk show if he had fallen in love with more than one woman at a time, Gerry responded, “No.”

But he did reveal, “In certain moments, you’re in love with the concept of falling in love and you get caught up with the glitz and the glamour and the energy of it.”

Gerry continued, “And then all of a sudden, you think, ‘I’m in love here,’ but then the next morning — or later — you realize, ‘No, that’s not it. That’s not the whole package. That’s not what I’m looking for.’ And I had those moments.”

Going into filming The Golden Bachelor, Gerry admitted to Us Weekly that he “absolutely” didn’t even think it was possible to fall for more than one women at a time.

“I thought, ‘No, that’s absolutely not possible. That’s silly.’ How wrong I was. Because through the course of the journey, I really felt strong feelings for several of the women,” Gerry shared.

RELATED LINK: ‘THE BACHELORETTE’ COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID ‘THE BACHELORETTE’ STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)  

However, Gerry was apparently able to distinguish his feelings of lust from true love.

“In retrospect, I realize that… the setting was such that, yeah, it was easy to look at someone and tell them that you loved them,” Gerry explained to Us.

“Then you realize that there is really just one person that really meets the standard in all situations.”

Prior to starring on The Golden Bachelor, Gerry was married for 43 years and welcomed two girls, Angie and Jenny, with Toni. 

He now has two granddaughters, Charlee and Payton.

Gerry teased to TV Insider that if he did find the second love of his life, he’d be open to getting engaged again.

“Oh, sure. That’s a very realistic possibility,” Gerry candidly noted.

“Let’s face it, you get to 72, the clock ticks a lot faster than when you’re 20. If I’m going to enjoy the rest of my life, I don’t want to waste time. I want to find my girl and move on.”

Click here to read spoilers about Gerry’s The Golden Bachelor season — including his Final 2 women and Final 3 bachelorettes — or click here to see photos and details of Gerry’s 22 bachelorettes.

RELATED LINK: ‘THE BACHELOR’ FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author:
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.