Since the tone of this thread has turned, I’ll keep my thoughts to myself except to say, i think he made the right choice and since it’s a live show, they both - and their families - seemed very very happy and unfazed by any accusations.
I wish Leslie well.
I’ve never heard anyone named Theresa who pronounced it with two syllables
They did look happy and I’ll be very happy for them if it works out.
ETA: There are now stories out there that indicate Gerry did tell the contestants he had lived with someone after his wife’s death. See e.g., 'Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner Was Open With Contestants About Relationship After Wife's Death: Source | Entertainment Tonight
I assume that means the story about the relationship is true.
I am so proud of myself. As soon as someone mentioned Reality Steve on this thread I closed it and didn’t open it again until just now, after waking up at 6 a.m. to watch the finale. I really didn’t want it to be ruined.
Quite happy for how it turned out. Leslie was sooo not the one. I want her to get therapy in the worst way. I feel sad for her and the seeming lack of self-esteem. If some guy said those things to me and he didn’t pick me I would think poorly of HIM, not myself. That being said, I do hope she’s not the Golden Bachelorette. She needs to do a lot of work on herself before I would devote a season to watching how her “journey to find love” turns out.
I had heard a report on the story about Gerry and this woman, but I didn’t read it because, again, I was avoiding spoilers so I don’t have a lot of thoughts about it except that he did say that he had dated before so that’s not new. I don’t know about the polished resume and such. I’m going to try to go back to sleep and maybe read it when I wake up! Sweet dreams, Bachelor Nation!
I think the women not chosen ended up being the real winners here. Too many red flags to get near this man.
Most every “2nd place” contestant on this show has felt similarly to Leslie in that they felt they were the one. That is not new. Most main characters have told more than one person they loved them or are falling in love. That is not new. Not saying it’s ok but I would say it’s sort of expected?
And I would say that Faith in the audience was probably STILL feeling like Leslie felt. It’s the crummy side of this love rainbow. But nearly always, at least one heart gets stabbed. Male and female.
It was very raw and hard to watch Leslie and Gerry but a piece of me felt she was a little rough on him knowing all of the above.
I also had to wonder watching some of the other contestants in the audience if many of them just didn’t love Theresa.
But in the end, from what we saw, I can see why he chose her - and she him.
I will look forward to watching the wedding on January 4 - as corny as it will surely be!
Here’s my take: Leslie dodged a bullet. I don’t think Theresa’s going to marry him. She’s too smart and not desperate. I think the Golden Bachelor is a Goldigger. Do you remember how crazy he was about Leslie until he realized that Theresa was a successful stockbroker? He did a 180 on Leslie. Said that he loved the fact that Theresa was an independent career woman but hmmm I think he saw $$$ dollar signs.
I won’t be watching the wedding.
Not a fan of Gerry after the last few weeks of learning more about him.
The bachelor is heavily edited. The producers will show you the story they want to tell.
I’m sure Gerry isn’t the worst bachelor. By a lot. There is always Juan Pablo! There’s been some very interesting bachelors.
I do find it hard to believe that Gerry is in it for Theresa’s money. He may like that she has her own money. And Theresa would be stupid not to have a prenup.
I agree that I think the onus of the deceit about Gerry’s dating past lies with the producers of the show. They are selling a program. I would guess he was honest with at least the two finalists about his past, as the info was bound to come out.
Fun fact: Theresa lives in my hometown. If Gerry is digging for gold…not sure he’s going to find it. She definitely lives on the more modest side of the tracks.
I think the disconnect here is that some on this thread haven’t watched shows from this franchise before.
Every season, there are people from the lead’s past (and sometimes to the contestants past), who reach out to the media hoping for 15 min of fame. THR didn’t go hunting for “Carolyn.” She came to them. I don’t know how much THR vets claims, but Reality Steve is now pretty careful about what he publishes. I haven’t seen him comment on this (so far). It could be because, as skieurope says, who cares?
I thought early on that Joey would be cast as the Bachelor. My concern is that, I didn’t know how they would spin a tennis coach living in Hawaii. Since moving to HI in 2017, he hasn’t held a job for more than 1.5 years. Last night, they said he was a tennis player. That’s okay. After being the Bachelor, his world will change. He will make more as an influencer than he ever made as a tennis coach.
The same thing for Gerry, Leslie, Susan and April (who got a gig on Joey’s season). They will not go back to their regular lives. They’ve already started pitching products and receiving perks. In the LA Times article I linked to above,
In addition to your upcoming nuptials, any other show business aspirations now that you’re a huge TV star? Or are you just planning a quiet future with Theresa?
I don’t think those two things are mutually exclusive. I can have a great, quiet life with Theresa and still look at the aspirations and ambitions that may be out there. But I will say this, I am absolutely going to savor every moment until I get to that altar and say my “I do’s.” I want every single moment to be as joyful for her as it is for me, and I never want to look back and feel I hurried through anything. We’ll deal with the aspirations after that.
For people that watch Reality TV regularly, editing can make you believe what they want you to believe. Very rarely are those who are portrayed as villains, not nice in real life. There are always exceptions (ex. Kat). We saw one conversation about Theresa’s profession and didn’t see much after that. That doesn’t mean that the profession is the one thing that made him fall in love with her. There was plenty of footage on that we didn’t see.
In interviews, Gerry spoke about the conversations that they had when they were alone. Production touched on it when we saw him tell Leslie that she hadn’t asked him many questions about what their life would like together. When he was with Theresa, there were topics he wanted to discuss and, before he could bring them up, she did. He also mentioned in the finale, that she had a successful long marriage. I think that was a direct reference to Leslie’s two failed marriages.
The Fantasy Suites proved just as pivotal to Gerry.
“In my head, I had this checklist of four or five things that, ‘I got to know this stuff,’” he says. “And so she accepted to go into the Fantasy Suite, and those four or five things, before I even had a chance to ask them, she was like, spouting it out there. She was like, ‘Okay, and this is going to happen, and I want you to know this and this.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh my God, we are exactly on the same page.’”
Interesting, because it was brought up up thread, this People article says,
Theresa and Gerry plan to bring their families together to celebrate Hanukkah this month. “We’ll have a holiday dinner together with everyone,” Gerry says.
And what about that “$60,000 dress” that Leslie bought for the wedding-that-wasn’t-to-be? Did I mishear? Did the show pay for that?
The contestants buy their own clothing. Production chooses which of their dresses they wear getting out of the limo.
So Leslie can afford a $60k dress? Wow! Hope the store takes returns…
Did she say it was for the wedding or for the final rose ceremony? Couldn’t quite hear.
I also can’t be as cynical about Gerry. All the contestants are vetted, likely pretty carefully, and I believe undergo a psychological screening, and surely the golden women are no fools (especially a stock broker) and will be careful with their financial stability. If they do marry, I’ll bet she will require a pretty tight pre-nup. At our age, everyone has some sort of baggage.
I read somewhere that one of the things he and Theresa have in common is that they are both “fairly frugal.”
If Leslie is buying $60,000 dresses, she doesn’t sound like the woman for him long term!
All true. But production procures the dresses for the final rose ceremony.
Well I was completely wrong about Gerry choosing Leslie. And frankly, I’m glad he didn’t. She did not seem right for him. Too needy, too desperate, and yes the 2 failed marriages I’m sure played a part. I think the flak Gerry is getting is unwarranted. He truly seems like a nice guy. Even the women he dumped all heap praise on him for his kindness. Did anyone else catch Ellen’s eye roll when he was speaking to Leslie? It was hilarious. I hope he and Theresa live happily ever after, as corny as it sounds. They both deserve it.
Sounds like production then is not very frugal if they’re using $60,000 dresses for a final rose ceremony!
It could be that it was a 60K dress - but not for her to own - just to wear for the occasion. Overall the franchise is not a money spending machine - this season the only real travel was for the final 2.
I’ve been listening and reading stuff here and there. I think there is a wide range of opinions from Gerry being a complete jerk to Leslie being too needy and not ready mentally for a long term relationship to Gerry and Theresa being perfect for each other. You can find some material over the last several weeks to support all those viewpoints.
One thing that I heard mentioned - and this might just be show logistics - probably was…but why didn’t Gerry break up with Leslie before he had her meet his family??? I mean that would put a big hole in production …but I understand that had to feel real awkward to her.
The other thing I’m hearing is…why so quick for the wedding? Have they spent much time together since summer when the season actually took place? Yeah, yeah I get they are older and “no time to waste” but 5 weeks from now is a quick turn around!
I appreciate @DeeCee36 comment that she is from Theresa’s hometown and she isn’t likely wealthy - so to squash perhaps the idea that Gerry thinks it’s more profitable to be with her. I really don’t think that he is THAT type of guy. Not perfect, but not that type of guy!