Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner has addressed bombshell accusations by a woman claiming to be his ex-girlfriend who said the 72-year-old airbrushed his life story for television.
The ex-girlfriend, identified only as Carolyn, accused Turner in The Hollywood Reporter last week of fudging the truth about his relationship history, including the fact that he hadn’t seriously dated since his wife’s sudden death in 2017. Carolyn claimed the pair were together after his wife’s passing, and even lived together for a time in Indiana.
Also among the sordid allegations: Turner disinvited Carolyn from his high school reunion because she’d gained weight. She alleged that he pointed to her body and said, “I’m not taking you to the reunion looking like that.”
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Also, after the couple’s split and as Carolyn was moving out, she fell down the stairs and required surgery. Turner accused the woman of intentionally hurting herself.
The woman’s account also suggested that while he was portrayed as a retired restauranteur on the hit show, he sold his business in 1985 and worked more recently as a handyman.
Turner did not respond to The Hollywood Reporter, but instead spoke to Katie Couric Media. “I guess I would say this: I dated a number of women, but then it becomes an issue of how you define whether you’re in a relationship [The relationship referenced in THR] really didn’t [last a few years].”
“There’s just enough truth” in the article, Turner added. “But I have so many positives to think about that I haven’t really given that article a whole lot of thought.”
Of his portrayal as a restaurant entrepreneur, he said: “The business I owned was very much like the Cadillac Diner that Theresa and I went to on the very first date. I sold burgers and fries and shakes, and it was a very profitable business. And the comments about what I did later in life, I did those after I retired.
Turner claimed he worked as a handyman because, “I knew I was doing something good for people who needed help.”
“I retired at 55, and I was very happy giving back to the community and doing things that were worth something to other people. I mean, jeez, I didn’t work as a handyman for the money.”
Turner also commented on the expose to The New York Times when quizzed on the issue, adding: “I guess I haven’t really looked at it as how accurate it is. I’ve more looked at it in terms of timing, and how it really doesn’t fit with all of the positive things that are going on in my life right now. I mean, I’m sitting across from Theresa right now, and I look at her, and she’s the love of my life. And I really don’t have time to think about some of the other stuff.”
Turner gave the story a “cursory look,” he said, “so that’s about all I could say.”
The initial Hollywood Reporter article was published one day before Turner proposed to Theresa Nist, 70, on the debut season of the Golden Bachelor, where contestants aged 60 and above vie for love.
