“The Golden Bachelor,” Gerry Turner, has some words of wisdom for younger generations’ dating habits.
Turner, 72, is the star of “The Bachelor” franchise’s new show, showcasing a man on a quest to find love again after losing his wife.
In an interview with E! News, Gerry says younger people need to ditch technology and fall in love with each other “organically.”
“The Golden Bachelor,” Gerry Turner, is advising the younger generation to “throw” the phones away. (Craig Sjodin/ABC)
“If I were to say one thing, it would be throw your phone away,” he told the outlet. “Just throw it away and go back to one-on-one interactions and read someone’s facial expression and their body language. And listen to their voice and really open up to falling in love with someone organically and not electronically.”
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Gerry admitted to the outlet there are “a handful of women that I’m really attracted to.” The dating show premiered in September.
In 2017, Turner lost his wife of 43 years, Toni. Since he has been on the show, Turner told the outlet several “one-in-a-lifetime” opportunities have presented themselves.
Gerry Turner, 72, is the first “Golden Bachelor.” (John Fleenor/ABC)
Since getting back in the dating scene for the first time since 1967, Turner admitted what he’s looking for in a relationship has changed.
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“We hadn’t even grown up yet, so we were looking forward to growing up together, raising children together and those kinds of things,” Gerry said of the beginning of his relationship with his late wife. “Now, it’s changed entirely. It’s two retired people trying to find what they want to do with the rest of their life for fun, because we look at it now as like every day is Saturday. We can do whatever we want, so what is it we actually want to do? And it’s fun, but it is a lot different.”
Gerry doesn’t just have advice for the younger generation. Speaking to Jennifer Hudson recently on “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” he explained that dating in his 70s is “entirely different.”
“When you’re in your 20s and 30s,” he elaborated, “you’re thinking about a career, you’re thinking about how many children you might want to have with a partner. You’re asking superficial questions like, ‘What’s your favorite color?’ and so forth.”
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He said when you’re older, “you cut through some of that, and you’re looking at what’s really important.”
“You’re always looking for the person that’s going to make you whole, that you feel comfortable with. You no longer care about color, and you no longer care about career and the number of children. You care about how you spend your holidays. You know, ‘Do you go to church?’ Those kind of things.”
The “Golden Bachelor,” Gerry Turner, says dating in his 70s is “entirely different.” (Frank Micelotta/ABC via Getty Images)
Gerry admitted to having some deal breakers when he was looking for love before becoming the “Golden Bachelor.”
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“One of the obvious deal breakers is distance,” Turner said. “When I was dating before I got on this show, I had the rule of 60 miles and the age of 60, so they had to be age appropriate, and they had to be close.”
