While The Golden Bachelor’s Gerry Turner is busy planning his nuptials to Theresa Nist, one woman who vied for his heart on the show isn’t pleased with him. Leslie Fhima saw Turner, 72, for the first time since he turned her down in favor of Nist. Their conversation was captured on the After the Altar special. The two hugged for a long time before exchanging pleasantries. after ward. Fhima ripped into her former mate.
“I just want to tell you, Gerry, that I fell in love with you for so many reasons. I really did. I mean, the way you looked at me and your eyes sparkled, the way her nose prickled when you talked to me, the way we made each other laugh all the time. You got my stupid humor. I was myself with you co completely,” she said. “The most important thing I fell in love with was your integrity. And because of your integrity, your words meant so much to me. I didn’t take them for granted. I took them and I put them in my heart, OK? And everybody knows what you said on camera. But only you and I know it was said in [during the] overnight. And I would never share that with anyone. It’s our private time. But those words gave me 100 percent certainty that I was your girl. … And your words just meant so much to me, and that’s why I was blindsided. Because I wasn’t sure how it changed or what happened.”
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Turner apologized for hurt feelings. But he’s happy with Nist, despite the tough choice of trying to figure out who was the best suitor for him out of the 22 women on the show.
Speaking to the L.A. Times, Turner revealed what was so special to him about his soon-to-be bride. “The criteria I had looked for in a perfect partner included a few things, including the ability to make me calm when I got excited. In my first one-on-one date with Theresa, you saw how well she made me calm,” he said. “One of the other things I realized with the passage of time was finding someone who would make me a better person. She has done that. She makes me smile.”
