Bachelor Nation‘s first Golden Bachelor, Gerry Turner, is getting some truly golden advice from his daughters and granddaughters on his journey to finding his person.
One thing his family thinks is most important to consider when getting back into the dating game – his text skills. Gerry needs some help recognizing what’s cool and what’s a total faux pas when it comes to text-savvy lingo.
Gerry’s granddaughter says it quite simply – he doesn’t need to start each text like he’s writing a love note. While we understand her sentiment, I feel compelled to chime in. I think the art of eloquently writing a sweet message or a romantic text or two through the day has been lost on our generation, and I miss them — so you GO GERRY — but I digress.
His daughter laughs and reminds Gerry of when he began texting, and he would sign his texts with “Dad” at the end as if they weren’t aware who was messaging them… from their dad’s number. He laughed at himself with rosy cheeks as he admits:
“Yeah…I did that.”
Turner was revealed as our first Golden Bachelor on July 17, and the reality television realm has been obsessed with him ever since. He’s in a different stage of life than most contestants on the series, and the idea of a more mature bachelor was immediately intriguing. Gerry shines in every promo spot or interview he’s done in preparation for his television debut as the first (and long-awaited) Golden Bachelor.
Look, here at WGTC, we’re just like you — we tune into the Bachelor Nation’s dating shows with a sincere hope that the romantic hopefuls find their match, but the drama that soon follows isn’t something we turn away from.
The thing is, the idea of hopeless romanticism is still a selling point, too — and I hope Gerry’s story is just that; a journey to love where Jesse Palmer doesn’t have to say even one time that this is the most “dramatic season” of the series so far; albeit, it’s the first — but you get my drift.
Gerry has a leg up on most contestants we see in dating realms, whether within Bachelor Nation or in any other capacity; he’s lived a lot of life. He fell in love with the woman of his dreams and lived a lifetime with her already. In that love story, he had to shoulder pain he never imagined feeling as Gerry watched Toni — his beloved wife — in her final moments.
He also raised two kids and helped teach life lessons to two granddaughters, and they’ve built a community around each other; nurturing, loving, and therein moments of great joy and sadness. He knows what it feels like to love a woman with the entirety of his heart, and he also knows what it’s like to watch the daughters he brought into this world face their own ups and downs in life.
As a parent, I thought I knew what love was before I had my son — but there’s a new definition of the word when you bring a child into the world. Gerry realizing what life and love can do to a person means that we might be seeing the least dramatic season of a reality dating show in television history, and I think I speak for all of us when I say — we can’t wait. Can you imagine the first season of The Golden Bachelor, setting a standard of respect, acts of romance, and more love letters? Color us overjoyed.
Gerry seems to know what he wants, what he doesn’t, and above all, he knows how valuable life is — every single moment. Gerry recognizes that all we’ve got is right now, and as he brings a more mature aspect to Bachelor Nation, we can only hope that the women vying for his heart bring that same energy.
We’re on the Gerry protection squad already, and we’ll have strong words for anyone who dares to step into the mansion with less-than-stellar intentions.