And what happened when he broke up with one unsuspecting contestant.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Welcome one, welcome all, to the first-ever Golden Bachelor season finale! It’s been a wild ride.
Tonight’s episode is different, and not just because it ends with a proposal. The two-hour event opens to a live studio audience filled with fans, Gerry’s kids, the former contestants, and other members of Bachelor Nation. Host Jesse Palmer tells us we’re in for an evening that will leave us stunned. We’ve heard that one a time or two.
But before the bombshells, we have to catch up with the couples in Costa Rica, where Gerry is more confused than ever after his fantasy suite dates with Leslie and Theresa, and he has to choose who he’s going to propose to. Gerry says when he’s with Leslie, they get lost with each other but that his overnight date with Theresa was a game-changer.
Gerry gets some special visitors: His daughters and granddaughters! One of them asks if he’s said “I love you” to either of them, and they don’t seem too surprised to learn he’s said it to both women. He tells his family they’re first going to meet Theresa, “a professional businesswoman” (his words).
Theresa meets Gerry’s daughters and granddaughters
As soon as Theresa plops down on the couch, they start tittering about how weird this situation is. He goes off with his granddaughters, and Theresa tells his daughters, Angie and Jennifer, about how Gerry gave her a cupcake on their first night and asked her to clean the frosting off his lips. Judging by his daughters’ faces, that was not the anecdote to open with. Luckily, it can only go up from here.
Then she explains that she and Gerry bonded over their losses. She tearfully shares that she was married to her high school sweetheart Billy for 42 years before he passed, similar to what Gerry went through. This seems to have endeared Theresa to Angie and Jennifer because they have something huge in common. Watching this, it’s undeniable how much they share in terms of life experiences, and I feel like it would make sense for Gerry to choose Theresa because their relationship seems like it would be pretty seamless.
Jennifer tells the camera that if Gerry proposed to Theresa, she’d be really happy. Leslie, you have your work cut out for you.
With Theresa out of earshot, Gerry’s daughters ask him if they “knocked boots,” but he doesn’t answer. Gerry tells them Theresa has “always been the safe choice,” which could be a double-edged sword.
As they part ways, Gerry tells Theresa he loves her, and she says it back.
After the commercial, we’re back in the studio where Jesse tells everyone, once again, that this ending is going to “shock you to your core.” Listen buddy, I watched Arie pick Becca and then change his mind and Colton jump a fence after Cassie self-eliminated — I highly doubt anything on this show can shock me at this point.
Gerry and Theresa’s final date
When Theresa and Gerry reunite for their last date before he has to choose, Theresa brings up the Leslie-sized elephant in the room and tells him she’s concerned. His response is big word salad to describe the obvious: “That’s a very binary situation based on one rose.”
Theresa tells Gerry she doesn’t want him to choose her if he doesn’t overwhelmingly want her.
Theresa right now:
Gerry does tell her he won’t propose or give her a rose unless he’s 1,000 percent committed. He agrees it should be 1,000 percent or nothing. Alexa, play “All Or Nothing” by O-Town.
Leslie meets Gerry’s daughters and granddaughters
After that extremely lackluster casual date, Gerry returns to his daughters and kind of primes them that Leslie’s more of a firecracker and that she’ll probably make fun of him a ton. Leslie immediately makes Gerry and his daughters laugh — a promising sign — and tells them how she finally felt comfortable around him on their overnight when he said the F word.
Gerry: I want to clarify that the word had an exclamation point and not a question mark.
One thing’s for sure: They’re all keeping their lips sealed about the intimacy in the fantasy suites.
Gerry’s granddaughters now get the honor of taking Leslie aside for an interrogation, and she tells them he’s sincere. The granddaughters seem to be into Leslie while the daughters are clearly smitten with Theresa.
Then Leslie talks to Gerry’s daughters, who ask if she wants a proposal. She tells them about how she told Gerry she wants a relationship “till death do us part” but the idea of that did scare her a little bit.
After that, Gerry gets the download from his daughters: They dig Leslie’s free-spirited vibe but are worried that she’s unsure and that she might not say yes to a proposal. He says he wants to make sure he chooses the woman he can’t live without, and it’s for the rest of his life.
Leslie’s goodbye with Gerry is much more awkward than Theresa’s — there are no “I love you’s”. Leslie noticed that he was off.
Leslie and Gerry’s final date
Gerry goes to Leslie’s room for their final date, and she’s keenly aware that he’s been kind of weird. She brings it up and he says he’s just stressed from the pressure of the decision. I get it, I spiral trying to decide what to order for dinner.
But with a clink of their wine glasses, they try to turn those frowns upside-down. Leslie gives Gerry a gift: a little scrapbook of their memories. Cute! It includes a steamy snap of them kissing against a wall, and I’m just wondering, who took that picture?
Gerry tells Leslie that she’s been so much fun and basically thanks her for everything she’s done for him. This reminds me of when, on Parks and Rec, Chris dumped Anne and she didn’t realize it.
Leslie tells Gerry he feels like home and he says, “Thank you very much.” And when she says “I love you,” he says, “That’s such a special sentiment.” And now Leslie’s crying because she knows it’s bad that he didn’t say I love you back and that this is likely the end of the road.
A live look at my living room:
As they’re saying goodbye, Leslie asks Gerry if he has anything he wants to tell her, essentially giving him the opportunity to end it. He doesn’t take the bait and instead says he’s got a tough decision to make before leaving.
Gerry tells Leslie who he’s choosing
Leaving Leslie’s room, Gerry sits down on the steps and cries. Leslie’s crying, too, on the other side of the wall.
Gerry acknowledges that she knows that something is off, so he goes back to her room to talk.
All of us:
Gerry: When I left, you asked if there was something I had to say to you…It’s been difficult and I’ve kind of made a decision about how I want to go about this. And I have fallen in love with Theresa and that’s the direction I’m going to take.
Leslie: So everything you told me the other night was a lie?
Gerry: No, because at that time, that was the truth.
Unfortunately, as someone who’s dated many men who like to get swept up in big feelings and make all kinds of grand future promises that are only true in the brief, fleeting moment at which they’re made, and they have zero intention of following through, I feel this hard.
Leslie’s not having it. “I knew it the minute I saw you today. We were off. You were off. I could tell by your face.” Gerry agrees and he apologizes. Leslie asks where they went wrong, and he says it didn’t go wrong, he just fell harder for Theresa, basically. “Had I known this would be how much pain I would cause someone, I would’ve never taken the first step in this journey.”
Leslie points out that she’s never the one who gets chosen.
Leslie: It’s typical, this is my life and this is how it always goes.
Gerry: Don’t think that.
Leslie: It doesn’t matter Gerry, no offense. I can think whatever the f*ck I want.
The live studio erupts into applause.
All of us:
Leslie’s breakup speech with Gerry
Leslie launches into a speech we won’t try to paraphrase. We’ll just leave her powerful words right here for you, for the next time you feel betrayed by someone. Warning, tissues required:
Leslie: My heart is broken, once again. But now I have to do it in front of the whole world to see once again how broken I am, how no one chooses me. You didn’t choose me once again. The other night you made it sound like you chose me. You said things to me that made me think this was going to be it. You led me down a path and you took a turn and left me there. And that’s how I feel. It is mind-boggling, to be honest, how you can talk to me all night, say you love me, and then one day — not even a day, 12 hours later — you’ve changed your mind. I poured my heart out and fell in love with you, fell in love with your family today. The only good thing is now I don’t have to walk down in that $60,000 dress with the diamond earrings and get on that platform and be completely embarrassed. Now it’s just here. And that I thank you for.
Gerry: I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could say but I know there isn’t.
Leslie: No, there’s nothing you can say or do to make me feel better.
And then he holds her while she cries.
Leslie says that Theresa’s a great girl and she has nothing against her and she wants to see Gerry happy, but she’s “just blown away.”
Eventually, Gerry gets the hint and says, “I’ll see myself out.”
How the producers need to be with Leslie right now:
Leslie’s broken, and honestly, so are we — including the people in the studio audience (which, by the way, includes Reese Witherspoon’s daughter, randomly).
Jesse goes to comfort Gerry and asks if he’s OK. Gerry says, “No, I’m not OK…The only time I’ve ever felt worse in my whole life was when my wife passed away, and this is a goddamn close second.” He says of Leslie, “She’s a good person and I f*cked her over.”
We cut back to the live studio where Leslie’s sitting on the couch with Jesse, and I’ve got to give it to them — that’s some Emmy-award-winning editing right there. I just got chills.
When Jesse asks how she feels, she says watching it back has been tough.
Leslie: I was unapologetically myself through this whole thing. I was vulnerable. I broke down my walls. I fell in love with him and I haven’t fallen in love with someone in a really long time, so it was hard.
She remarks about how sad she was because up until that point, she was confident she was Gerry’s pick. She tells Jesse that she was so sure Gerry was going to propose that she picked out a dress and even wrote her vows. She says the breakup hurt so much worse because she’s usually so cautiously optimistic in life and doesn’t count her chickens before they hatch.
She and Gerry reunite onstage and have an emotional conversation, and everyone gets some closure.
Gerry proposes to Theresa
Back in Costa Rica, Gerry’s getting ready to propose to Theresa, and Theresa’s getting into an SUV to find out if she’s going to be proposed to. That seems needlessly stressful since she’s already won, right? Gotta get that dramatic reveal, I guess.
They meet in a field (as is common on Bachelor finales) and Theresa launches into a speech. She says, “Sometimes it feels like the whole world thinks love is only for the young. And honestly, at the age of 70, I was starting to feel that myself. When Billy died, I was starting to feel I was going to spend the rest of my life alone. And then I met you.”
She says, “I’m so madly in love with you, Gerry. I feel the best is yet to come…Now that I’ve found you, I don’t ever want to let you go. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Gerry says he woke up with mixed feelings, asking himself, “How did I get here? Is she the right girl? I realized that you’re not the right person for me to live with.”
And then there’s a long pause where Theresa starts sobbing before Gerry says, “You’re the one I can’t live without.”
I’m glad Theresa didn’t kill him for that, because I’m going to. Don’t play with our hearts, Gerry!
He proposes to her and she accepts, and they’re so happy! Then he gives her the final, gold rose, which seems like an unnecessary formality at this point.
Are Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist still together?
With that, it’s time for After the Final Rose! Gerry and Theresa come to the stage and are thrilled that they don’t have to keep their relationship secret anymore. Theresa didn’t even tell her sisters, which is truly impressive — I go on one good date and send out an email blast to my friends and family.
Jesse asks what happened on their overnight date that changed their relationship so much for the better. I think we all know…wink wink.
Just kidding, Gerry says that he realized that Theresa knew how to maintain a relationship because of her marriage to Billy.
Theresa’s like, “Well if he’s not going to tell you what happened in the Fantasy Suites, I’ll tell you. I knocked his boots off.” She says it was with her kissing.
Theresa says she hopes people who watch their love story learn that it’s never too late for love.
When is Gerry and Theresa’s wedding?
And now for another big announcement: Jesse reveals that they’re sending Theresa and Gerry on a romantic vacation to Italy, which Gerry says will be their honeymoon trip since they’re going to get married “as quick as we can put together a wedding plan.” The Golden Wedding will be on January 4, 2024, and it’ll air live on ABC.
And that’s a wrap on the first season of The Golden Bachelor! Congrats to Gerry and Theresa; Leslie, I’m here if you want to talk; ABC, you better not let us down when it comes to The Golden Bachelorette! It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve as your humble recapper. See you at the wedding!
