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![Gerry Turner holds a golden rose on the finale of "The Golden Bachelor." Gerry Turner holds a golden rose on the finale of "The Golden Bachelor."](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/television/info-2023/the-golden-bachelor-finale/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/container_image/articlecontentfragment/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/television/2023/11/1140-the-golden-bachelor-finale-gerry-turner-golden-rose.jpg)
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
In the Nov. 30 finale of The Golden Bachelor, the unexpected breakout TV hit of 2023, Gerry Turner, 72, finally made up his mind about the two women who’ve been the objects of his affection for months. The final stretch in the race for his heart and rose and a diamond ring as big and square as he is was an epic emotional journey with tears of joy — and the other kind too.
But no matter how you feel about the wisdom of his decisions, the show concluded on a note of hope that everybody can use. Here’s how the night unfolded:
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Gerry told his family the choice he faced.
“On one hand, when I met Leslie, we kind of get lost in each other,” he told his two grown daughters. “It’s almost like words become unnecessary. We know what the other person is feeling. On the other hand, Theresa and I had a great one-on-one date at the beginning. And then it did go to a little lull, but after our overnight everything changed.” Another advantage to Theresa, who’s a businesswoman kind of like he’s a businessman: “She’s a professional, very logical in her thinking, very logical like I am.” Leslie, a dancer and physical therapist who ran with Prince's crew, is a bit different.
And on the third hand?
He’s in love with two women, and he told them both as much.
![Gerry Turner sitting on a couch talking with his two daughters and two granddaughters on the finale of "The Golden Bachelor." Gerry Turner sitting on a couch talking with his two daughters and two granddaughters on the finale of "The Golden Bachelor."](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/television/info-2023/the-golden-bachelor-finale/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par7/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/television/2023/11/1140-the-golden-bachelor-finale-gerry-turner-family.jpg)
Gerry’s family had something they needed to know.
Did Gerry and Theresa “knock boots?” Hmm, that question was a bit more frank than the one from Leslie’s little granddaughter in an earlier episode, who asked Gerry, “How much girls have you kissed?” But it amounts to the same thing: How intimate have you gotten with the contestants?
Gerry’s family was of two minds, too.
“We had our hearts set on Theresa,” said his granddaughter. But once they met Leslie, they saw what he saw in her too. However, Leslie, a woman of acute emotional intelligence and massive experience with men who love and leave, was fretful about what seemed like Gerry’s ambivalence. “It’s gotten to the point where at times I don’t know where I’m at. I don’t know how I’m going to handle this!" She was about to find out.
![Gerry Turner and Leslie smile at each outside near a pool on the finale of "The Golden Bachelor." Gerry Turner and Leslie smile at each outside near a pool on the finale of "The Golden Bachelor."](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/television/info-2023/the-golden-bachelor-finale/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par11/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/television/2023/11/1140-the-golden-bachelor-finale-gerry-turner-leslie-outside.jpg)
Things got weird fast with Leslie.
Nobody expected Janet Leigh to get killed in the first reel of Hitchcock’s Psycho, and it was almost as surprising to see Gerry and Leslie break up before the episode was half over. Pro tip: When you tell a guy you love him very, very, very much, “That’s such a special sentiment” is the incorrect answer.
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