Bring on the ladies: Gerry Turner’s ‘Golden Bachelor’ journey begins tonight

Gerry Turner‘s journey to find love as the first Golden Bachelor finally begins Thursday, September 28, and the 71-year-old Indiana native says he remembers getting the call from host Jesse Palmer like it was yesterday.

“I remember the morning it happened very vividly. My family was with me, we were all at the lake, we were enjoying a good sunny day and there was a Zoom call scheduled,” he recalls. “And I didn’t think much of it, but the first face that pops up in the Zoom call is Jesse Palmer. And after a brief chat, Jesse says, ‘Well, Gerry do you want to be the first Golden Bachelor?’ And I go, ‘Well, is that an official request?’ And he goes, ‘Yes it is.” and I go, ‘Yes I do.'”

The retired restaurateur already has a clear picture of what he’s looking for in a partner — someone with “high energy,” who’s a “good communicator” and “somebody who is trustworthy beyond question.”

“I want someone with good life experience, someone who’s intelligent in areas that maybe I’m not,” he adds.

Turner is also out to change the perception that people in their 60s and 70s slow down mentally and physically, explaining, “I want people to see that that demographic still enjoys all the values, all the opportunities that they did 20 years prior.”

The Golden Bachelor premieres Thursday, September 27 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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