‘Golden Bachelor’ Fans Defend Gerry Turner Saying ‘I Love You’ to More Than One Woman

The Golden Bachelor‘s Gerry Turner will make his final decision on Thursday’s (November 30) season finale, but the silver-haired leading man has been catching some flak for his multiple proclamations of love throughout the season.

Gerry has said “I love you” to each of his two finalists, Leslie Fhima, a 64-year-old fitness instructor from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Theresa Nist, a 70-year-old financial services professional from Shrewsbury, New Jersey. Before that, he’d also used the ‘L’ word with third-place finisher Faith Martin.

“I will never understand #Bachelor/Bachelorette’s telling more than one person they love them,” wrote one fan on X. “It may well be they feel they love two (or more), but as they can “keep” only one, DON’T admit love to anyone until the finale. DON’T BE A SLEEZE!”

Others agreed, with one person stating, “If you’re actually searching for “the one” quit letting “I love you” slip out of your mouth.”

One Reddit poster took this a step further, asking fellow fans, “Do you want them to make a rule that the leads can only say [“I love you”] to one of the contestants?”

While some agreed it could make an interesting rule, others jumped to Gerry’s defense.

“I think that his “I love you’s” are said almost like “I adore you” or even “hey I think you’re great”. Maybe it’s a midwestern thing or maybe he’s just a lovey-dovey talking kind of guy,” wrote one Reddit commenter. “But I’ve given it much thought and I don’t think he means “You are the next love of my life and I’m all-in”.”

“They used to be more strict about leads not saying it but now a lot do. Ben Higgins was one that did and got backlash,” said another. “I personally don’t think it’s terrible.. I mean yeah he probably shouldn’t say it but I also think it’s possible to fall for multiple people.”

“If you haven’t watched the Bachelor before, it’s common for the lead to say they are in love with more than one person. It may not be scripted, but there is a lot of prompting. Watch other seasons and you’ll see,” added another.

Another viewer shared, “I think if that was the rule then there’d be no point in watching to the end. Maybe they shouldn’t say it to anyone. It is a bit heartbreaking.”

“I think it’s weird that so many people make a huge deal about it,” added another. “I think you can feel love for multiple people at once, or at least think that you do. I probably wouldn’t say it aloud like he did, but he seemed to have genuine affection for the final three.”

The Golden Bachelor viewers have been impatiently waiting for the show’s grand finale after the show took a break for Thanksgiving week. The last time fans saw Gerry, he was enjoying one-on-one time with Leslie and Theresa in the fantasy suites.

By the end of the penultimate episode, Gerry said he’d come to a decision. Thanks to long-time Bachelor spoiler source Reality Steve, Gerry’s choice is already out there. But fans will find out for sure who Gerry picks on Thursday’s highly-anticipated episode.