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Some things are too good to be true! When The Golden Bachelor<\/em><\/a> debuted this fall, it presented Gerry Turner<\/strong><\/a> as a successful retired widower who hadn\u2019t had a date since the death of his wife, Toni, in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not just a gentleman, you\u2019re a gentle man,\u201d said Sandra, one of the women he wooed on the reality series.<\/p>\n While Gerry appeared more mature, sensitive and emotionally in tune than The Bachelor<\/em> franchise\u2019s usual young studs, a whirlwind of lies he told about his background made headlines a day before Theresa Nist<\/strong>, 70, accepted his proposal of marriage. He has not only dated since Toni\u2019s death, he actually lived with a woman. And although he presented himself as retired, he\u2019s actually been working as a maintenance man.<\/p>\n \u201cGerry has money, but he\u2019s not as financially well off as he claimed,\u201d an insider exclusively tells Life & Style<\/em>.<\/p>\n After Theresa, a financial services worker from New Jersey, said yes to Gerry\u2019s final rose and a vintage-inspired 3.15-carat engagement ring, Gerry came clean about his background and dating history. \u201cThe producers knew that the story was going to come out. They notified Gerry, and he immediately sat Theresa down and told her everything,\u201d says the insider. \u201cShe was shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n On the show, Gerry related the heartbreaking tale of how he lost his wife, Toni, in 2017 just six weeks after she retired. \u201cShe became ill, and her situation got worse over a couple of weeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n She passed away from a bacterial infection shortly after they purchased a lake home. \u201cEvery time I look at that lake, I go, \u2018This is her dream. This is what she deserves. Why am I standing here alone?\u2019\u201d Gerry movingly said.<\/p>\n He met \u201cCarolyn,\u201d the pseudonym of a woman 14 years his junior, at work. They dated for 10 months before she moved into the lake house, where she lived for almost two years, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Carolyn and Gerry first started dating [in September 2017], my husband and I took them to an Iowa football game,\u201d Carolyn\u2019s friend Susan McCreary<\/strong> said. \u201cI thought, \u2018This guy\u2019s legit. This guy\u2019s a really good guy for her.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n But Gerry had quirks \u2014 like insisting that his girlfriend pay for her share of everything from household expenses to meals in restaurants. When they went out, Carolyn gave her half to Gerry in advance, so he could look like a big shot as he picked up the check!<\/p>\n Just before his high school reunion in October 2019, Gerry told Carolyn she wasn\u2019t coming with him. \u201cI\u2019m not taking you to the reunion looking like that,\u201d Carolyn, who had put on 10 pounds, recalls him telling her. The couple soon broke up.<\/p>\n Today, Gerry\u2019s embarrassed that he\u2019s been caught fibbing about his life. \u201cGerry isn\u2019t throwing The Golden Bachelor<\/em> producers under the bus, but it was a better storyline to say he hadn\u2019t kissed another woman. He did lie, and he regrets it,\u201d says the insider. \u201cHe has grown a lot during this process. He sees the mistakes he\u2019s made and wants to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n The plan is to move on with Theresa. \u201cGoing to be a very Gerry Christmas with Theresa and our blended family,\u201d posted Gerry, sharing a photo of his new fianc\u00e9e with their daughters and Theresa\u2019s daughter-in-law.<\/p>\n Theresa and her youngest, Jen Woolston<\/strong>, have been busy making plans for the wedding, scheduled to occur on January 4. \u201cTheresa wished he would have been honest from the start, but she has forgiven Gerry,\u201d says the insider. \u201cShe really loves him. As long as there aren\u2019t any other skeletons in his closet, I think they\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nVoice From the Past<\/h2>\n