Gerry Turner’s ego has been out of control since he was cast as The Golden Bachelor, and he’s only gotten worse since he announced his divorce from Theresa Nist. The 72-year-old was living his life when ABC dropped the opportunity in his lap to lead the inaugural season of TheBachelor spin-off, and he jumped at the chance. The season kicked off with Gerry meeting 22 incredible older women who had clamored for a chance to meet the highly eligible bachelor. The Golden Bachelor was an instant hit for ABC and completely revitalized the Bachelor Nation franchise.

After an entertaining season of dates, tears, and moments of high drama, Gerry gave his final rose to 70-year-old Theresa. Carried away by their own romantic story, Gerry and Theresa were married a few short weeks after the finale of The Golden Bachelor aired, but despite high hopes for the septuagenarian newlyweds, Gerry and Theresa announced their divorce only three months later. Though going through a public breakup may dampen some people’s egos, Gerry’s has grown since his divorce announcement.

Gerry Thinks He’s A Big Star

And He’s Not Wrong

Though reality television is a gift from the entertainment Gods, it has often been known to turn largely undeserving people into celebrities. Much can be said about Gerry, but no one can ever accuse the man of being uninteresting or of not being entertaining enough. Though The Golden Bachelor season 1 can attribute its meteoric success to multiple factors, including an aging television audience that loves stories about themselves, Gerry’s charming telegenic qualities played a role in the show’s incredible reception, and Gerry knows it.

In May, just a few short weeks before announcing his divorce from Theresa, Gerry posted on Instagram about his Critics Choice “Male Star of the Year” nomination. He posted a screenshot of the nominees, with his name circled, among familiar names such as Alan Cumming, Eugene Levy, and RuPaul Charles. Gerry didn’t win, as the award went to Alan Cumming for hosting The Traitors, but just the fact that he was nominated is impressive.

Gerry’s Eying His Place In History

“HISTORY-MAKING”

In February, weeks after his ill-advised wedding to Theresa, Gerry posted a photo of an Emmy consideration magazine ad that featured a photo of Gerry under the words “HISTORY-MAKING.” The ad also mentions some of the other awards won by The Golden Bachelor season 1, including a DGA nomination for best reality program premiere and an AARP Movies For Grownups award for best reality series.

The post has 3.5K likes and Gerry’s post reads, “Is this a hint of things to come? We are open to possibilities.”

Sadly, Gerry was wrong, and the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor didn’t win any Emmy Awards in 2024, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the series was a huge ratings coup for ABC and Gerry.

Gerry’s Aware Of His Cultural Significance

He Was A Clue On Jeopardy

Gerry’s newfound fame extends far beyond The Golden Bachelor season 1, as the show seeped into the cultural zeitgeist. In February, Gerry posted a clip of himself coming up as a clue on the long-running and beloved game show Jeopardy. It’s hard to tell from the soundless clip what the clue was, but Gerry was so excited about the moment he filmed the television with his phone camera.

As one fan in the comment section so succinctly put it, ” You know you’ve made it when you’re on Jeopardy as one of the categories .”

It would be easy to criticize Gerry for enjoying his celebrity a little too much, but fame can be intoxicating for most people. It’s important to remember that Gerry lived in relative obscurity for over seven decades, so the change has been life-altering on every level. He went from being a retired widower living in a lakeside house in Indiana to being invited to dinner and a Golden Bachelor watch party with the Kardashians, where Gerry was accused of allegedly flirting with Kris Jenner.

Gerry Thinks He’s Hot Stuff

Many Women Think So Too

Gerry and Theresa settled their divorce recently, which has led to a great deal of speculation about their love lives. While Theresa has been lying low and spending time with her family and hobbies, Gerry has been more visible. Many were shocked when, in May, a few weeks after the divorce announcement, IndyStar reported Gerry was spotted at a local dating event for singles in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Though he appeared to be hosting the event, not participating, the optics were still terrible.

In June, Gerry spoke to TMZ and revealed that, though he wasn’t yet ready to get back out into the dating field, he was being flooded with women sliding into Gerry’s social media DMs to express their romantic interest in The Golden Bachelor season 1 alum. He went on to say that, in addition to all the social media action, women were even approaching him in person to hand over their phone numbers.

Gerry maintained that he wasn’t ready to date again just yet, but when he was, he wanted everyone to know that he’d have plenty of romantic options. Though there’s little doubt that many women are interested in the attractive, gregarious Gerry, the fact that he would brag about being wanted is another example of Gerry’s ego running the show.