Gerry Turner has revealed details about the Bachelor selection process, admitting that there were several ‘firsts’.
The 72-year-old was named the first Golden Bachelor, making him the first senior citizen to look for love on the show.
His attempts to settle down have captivated viewers, and fresh episodes have allegedly smashed records for ABC and .
During an interview on Justin Long’s Life Is Short podcast, he discussed how he got the coveted part, including the awful moment he was asked to undergo his first STD test.
‘I was in Florida, February of this year,’ he told the host. ‘I was actually traveling with an old girlfriend, we were just friends.
‘I got a call from ABC wanting me to initiate the process, to go get a STD test.’
‘That’s a little bit of a tender moment,’ he recalled as Justin laughed.
‘As I recall, that may have been my very first ever STD test. I had no idea what was going to happen.
‘I didn’t know if they were going to look in the iris of my eye, take a urine sample, a blood sample. I had no idea.’
Gerry was married to his late wife, Toni, for over 50 years before appearing on the Golden Bachelor, but she died in 2017.
He said that his vacation companion was well aware that he was in the running, since the procedure had begun more than three years earlier – and had been temporarily halted owing to the global epidemic.
Before appearing on camera, the former restaurant manager had to undergo fingerprint testing as well as a rigorous psychiatric assessment.
‘There were clinical tests like that,’ he continued. ‘I had to send my fingerprints to the FBI, there were numerous background tests. There was a psychological evaluation that was like 360 questions and then another hour of interview.
‘The vetting process is ridiculously thorough.’
Gerry escaped largely unhurt and has subsequently formed relationships with a number of ladies.
He will be choosing between Leslie Fhima and Theresa Nist in next week’s finale, and he previously confessed that he was in a ‘very tough situation’ trying to make his decision.
‘I’m down to two people and realize that one of those two has to go home,’ he told Entertainment Tonight of the last stage. ‘When you’re down to the last two people over that amount of time and that much investment, you really have strong feelings for them even though you know they’re not the right person. They are so close to it.
‘You’re connected so deeply and then you realize they have to leave. Oh my God, it was an incredibly bad situation.’
‘You have to be genuine but you get in a moment when it’s almost as if you fall in love with the concept of being in love.
‘And it’s like, yeah, I want to be there. And the excitement and the glamour of a moment and all the energy, all of a sudden you feel it. And then the next day, when you sort it out, you go, “Oh geez, that wasn’t the authentic feeling that I was looking for.”’
The Golden Bachelor finale airs on November 30 at 8pm ET on ABC.