He’s 72, wears hearing aids, has a smile to light up the back of the moon, and his blue eyes can tear up with emotion and empathy in an instant.
With his fit physique and full head of hair, he sent a reported 4 million-plus women aged 60 and up, but also younger, into a collective swoon when he first appeared on ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor” on Sept. 28.
A spinoff of the ubiquitous TV series featuring young hot chicks and hunky bachelors, the new show has expanded the genre’s horizons by coming up with Gerry (pronounced Gary) Turner, a widower looking for love, and 22 women, aged 60 to 72, who are using their charm, wits and wiles to win his affection.
The show has caught on like pickleball in a retirement community. Older adults and senior centers across the country have been hosting weekly “Golden Bachelor” watch parties, and Laguna Woods is no exception.
Members of the Boomers Club, all women, of course, have been gathering for viewing parties at each other’s homes since the show’s inception. Last Thursday, a dozen women ensconced themselves with pizza and adult beverages in a dining room at the 19 Restaurant and, with giggles, guffaws, moans and groans, watched episode 4, which featured – surprise – a pickleball tournament.
Turner, apparently “passionate” about pickleball, is a retired restaurateur from Indiana, a father and grandfather, who lost his wife in 2017. Watching him get teary-eyed at her mention, one figures he still mourns her, but he’s seemingly game to take another look at love and commitment.
Boomer Monica Berg called Turner an interesting fellow but a bit naive.
“I don’t think many men would be as emotional on TV,” she said. “Some of the ladies are clearly playing him. He is a good ol’ boy from the Midwest, and some of the ladies there are big-city girls schooled in how to snag a man.”
Susan Schneider, an organizer of last week’s party and a fan of the “Bachelor” series, respectfully disagreed.
“I find Gerry amazing. I don’t think they could have picked a better guy – he’s sweet,” she said.
Schneider also praised the women vying for his attention.
“What you see in these women is so much kindness and respect for each other. The younger ones in the other ‘Bachelor’ shows are so catty and nasty to each other.”
Those older women come across as intelligent and appear as beautiful as their age allows, wrinkled faces and dimpled arms notwithstanding, with plenty of long tresses and slinky dresses, perhaps a little nip and tuck here and there. Their resumes show full lives that saw marriage, motherhood, grandmotherhood, widowhood, along with various degrees of professional success.
While a common cliche holds that women in that age group become invisible, it was clear that this lot intended to be anything but.
“The show mirrors our lives here in Laguna Woods,” Schneider said. “Women (here) are single, divorced, widowed. They have experienced separations and grief and are looking for that significant other for the rest of their lives.”
Schneider admitted that she applied to be a contestant on “The Golden Bachelor” four years ago, before the pandemic broke out, when she was living in Long Beach, but she never heard back.
On the show, Turner and the women go on single dates and group dates. Last week, one lucky lady went on a romantic ATV ride in the desert, complete with a pop-up hot tub.
All the while, the bachelor hands out roses, starting with “first impression” roses, more roses for those lucky enough to stay in his eye: Get a rose, you’re still in; no rose, you’re out.
The Boomers held a contest trying to predict which woman would get a rose – and which would be booted out of the mansion. And they played “Golden Bachelor Bingo,” crossing out squares each time Turner turned teary-eyed or when “Gerry talks about kids/grandkids” or “Someone puts on reading glasses.”
They gasped when contestant Sandra confessed that she had skipped her daughter’s wedding to play in the pickleball match. When asked to raise their hands if they condoned Sandra’s actions, none went up.
“It’s the rudest thing, skipping her daughter’s wedding to play pickleball. Daughters are forever; men, they come and they go,” said Berg, with others voicing agreement.
Some questioned whether a couple could really find lasting love in the span of the show’s run.
“I wonder how women could profess real love after such a short time,” said Sharon Campbell. “What’s also interesting is to figure out who wants to win him and who just wants to win the game.”
Still, “I think it’s possible to find a permanent relationship at our age,” she said, calling the show a little fun for the voyeur in all of us.
Schneider says watching the show with her friends is a bonding experience: “We have great conversations with each other afterwards. Women here respect each other.”
Berg finds the show a “fabulous” escape from reality.
“It is a great way to get away from all the terrible things happening today. We have an evening full of giggles, nothing political, nothing really disturbing. We can have an evening among us girls, a little harmless fun.”
Added Darlene Marvin: “Now we need a Golden Bachelorette. It can happen – it will happen.”
