Getty Gerry Turner.
“Golden Bachelor” producers have revealed that one thing had them quite worried about Gerry Turner.
How fans would perceive him kissing contestants.
The producers made the revelation at a panel in New York City, according to People Magazine. Of course, as fans know, Turner, 72, did a lot of kissing on screen, and he didn’t only kiss his final choice, Theresa Nist, although Turner did kiss Nist during the first episode.
People reported that the producers had “pre-show fears” about Turner kissing women on air.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Producers Weren’t Sure ‘How Viewers Were Going to Respond’ if Gerry Turner Kissed Women During the Show
Heavy/ABCTheresa Nist and Gerry Turner prepare for the holidays in New Jersey.
The producers admitted they didn’t know how viewers would take a senior man kissing women on screen.
“We didn’t know how viewers were going to respond,” Bachelor executive producer Bennett Graebner said during the panel, according to People. “In fact, I don’t think we knew how we were going to respond.”
“We see that a lot. We stand 10, 15 feet away from young men and women all the time making out,” Graebner said, according to the magazine. “It feels a little weird, a little creepy. But there was something on the first night about thinking about Dad here and wondering what that was going to feel like.”
However, when Turner kissed Nist for the first time, the producers changed their mind, People reported, quoting Graebner as saying, “I think that was the moment we realized this could work. We loved it.”
Other Contestants Have Opened Up About Their Feelings on Gerry Turner Since the Show Aired
ABCLeslie Fhima was “shocked” when Gerry Turner sent Faith Martin home.
Meanwhile, some of the other women Turner kissed have been giving interviews about the experience.
In her comments on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, runner-up Leslie Fhima said she didn’t respect how Turner handled everything on the show with her or the other finalist, Faith Martin.
“I don’t respect what he did. It started with Faith and then me a little more because I went to Costa Rica and did all that. I feel like he used ‘I love you’ too much,” Fhima told the podcasters. However, her concern wasn’t about his kisses; it was about him telling more than one woman that he loved them.
She added: “He hurt me.” Fhima continued, “I would never want to hurt anyone the way I was hurt or blindsided. My heart is precious to me, and I’m just not going to give it to anybody. When you say ‘I love you’ to somebody, it means something. I just don’t throw that word around.”
Faith Martin has said on Extra TV that she saw a connection between Turner and Nist from the start.
“I did notice that he kind of had a thing for Theresa right from the get-go,” she said. “I did not see it with Leslie but obviously their relationship was growing too. So my thought going in was if he gives a rose to Leslie first, I know I’m going home. I just knew it might be then between Leslie and Theresa.”
READ NEXT: Leslie Fhima’s Son Likes Comment That Takes a Swipe at Theresa Nist.