Gerry Turner loves two women.
Spoiler alert: One of them is Theresa, our Jersey Shore grandmother.
There was no decision in tonight’s episode of the “Golden Bachelor.” Turner and his two final women, Leslie and Theresa, traveled to Costa Rica for solo dates and overnight stays in the “fantasy suite.”
“I’m in love with both Leslie and Theresa. It’s going to be an incredibly difficult decision to make. I hope the clarity will come,” Turner said at the top of the show.
He is the oldest bachelor (by far) in the franchise: 72, and his potential love matches are 70 (Theresa) and 64. The bachelor and all the women who have sought his attention have been among the most emotionally raw, unfiltered characters the show has seen.
Turner’s take on twice-divorced Leslie before the dates: “Little by little with Leslie, the onion has been peeled back, and every layer is a different color.” He described her as playful and authentic. “She leaned into my chest, and I felt a shudder,” he said.
On Theresa, he said: “There’s a nice, warm, safe, secure feeling with Theresa. … Theresa has a hole in her heart, just like I do.”
Both Turner and Theresa’s spouses died after long marriages.
“We’ve both been to hell and back,” Turner told Theresa, “and there’s hope.”
Hope is a word that’s been used often to describe this version of “The Bachelor,” as viewers have watched people over the age of 60 still open to love.
Turner told Leslie that he wanted to know her level of commitment because when that decision is made, he wanted it to be “till death do us part.”
“I’ve never had that,” she said. “I’ve been searching for it my whole life. Even through two marriages, those words are just foreign to me.”
After an overnight in the fantasy suite, he told Leslie: You’re the one.
More:Jersey Shore widow brings ‘Golden Bachelor’ to Shrewsbury, but show ends on cliffhanger
The next day, he was with Theresa, but not quite feeling that vibe initially.
“Theresa is so kind, so nice. She’s a gentle person. She’s a good soul,” he said. “I don’t want to do anything that hurts her, but it’s like I’m looking at Theresa, going: What’s wrong with you? She’s the ideal woman for you. But at the same time, I’m thinking: What’s Leslie doing right now?”
He admitted, away from Theresa, that it was hard to compartmentalize that morning of the date, but by evening, he was warming up.
Theresa said she applied to be on “Golden Bachelor” because her daughter gave her the application, and when the Shrewsbury widow met Turner, she felt the decision was fate. “This is probably why I didn’t find anyone because I was meant to find you.”
Theresa talked about her life – how she had gone from full-time homemaker and mom to securities trader. In fact, she’s still working, telling him she would stop if her gave her a reason to retire.
By the next morning, he seemed to view Theresa through a new lens: “Waking up to Theresa this morning, I felt like the first day of the rest of my life.”
But the next show – in two weeks – looks a bit soul-crushing, as Turner chooses one woman and lets the other go. In the teaser for that final episode, Turner, crying, tells host Jesse Palmer: “The only time I felt worse was when my wife passed away, and this is a goddamn close second.”