Golden Bachelor's Leslie Fhima on What Gerry Turner Said Off Camera
Days after The Golden Bachelor finale, runner-up Leslie Fhima is dropping new bombshells about her final days with Gerry Turner.
The 64-year-old fitness instructor gave her first post-show interview on the Monday, December 4, episode of the“Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, telling hosts and Bachelor in Paradise couple Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt that Gerry, 72, made promises to her in the fantasy suites that he didn’t keep.
“He made plans with me for [the] future. He said kind of, like, ‘Save the date, this is what we’re going to do. I can’t wait for us. [In] two more days, we’ll be done with this [and] be together, start our life.’ Did he say, ‘Will you marry me?’ in there, no, but he all but said that,” Leslie claimed. “I would’ve been happy with just, ‘I love you,’ but he took it to a different level.”
During the Thursday, November 30, finale of the ABC series, fans watched Gerry end things with Leslie after deciding he had stronger feelings for Theresa Nist. At After the Final Rose, Gerry confirmed he made up his mind during his overnight date with Theresa, 70, which came after he spent the night off camera with Leslie.
“We woke up the next morning and he left [and] turned around three times and blew me kisses. He didn’t want to leave. That’s why I wasn’t worried that he was going on a date [with Theresa],” Leslie continued. “I just knew that he had to get through the motions of it. And I mean, I was 100 percent sure that I was it. … He didn’t say, ‘I have such a hard decision to make.’ Nothing like that.”
On the show, Leslie accused Gerry of blindsiding her. During their AFR reunion, he apologized — but Leslie didn’t accept.
“I feel like I didn’t get a ton of closure with him, but that’s OK. I felt like I closed it with myself,” Leslie said. “What can [the lead] say? They had to make a choice. It’s his journey, his choice. But he could have chosen not to say those things to me. That’s all. He said he wasn’t ready [or] his heart wasn’t ready, or something like that. I kind of was glazing over at that point, But I didn’t get closure from him. And I don’t know if anything he would’ve said would’ve really given me closure.”
Following Gerry and Theresa’s engagement, Theresa joined him on stage and the twosome announced that they are getting married live on ABC on January 4, 2024. The couple have since revealed plans to move to Charleston.
Keep reading for more highlights from Leslie’s “Bachelor Happy Hour” interview — including what she would do differently than Gerry if she was given a chance to be the first-ever Golden Bachelorette:
What Leslie Would Do Different as the Golden Bachelorette:
ABC has yet to announce or pick up The Golden Bachelorette, but fans and host Jesse Palmer have voiced their support for a spinoff series with a senior female lead. Leslie hinted to Joe and Serena that she would be down to hand out roses — but would not say “I love you” to her contestants after Gerry said the L-word to Leslie, Theresa and second runner-up Faith Martin.
“I, for sure, would never tell anyone I love them until I am on that platform with them and I know it. I just wouldn’t do that,” Leslie said. “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. And when you say I love you to somebody, it means something. And I just don’t throw that word around. I haven’t said it in a really long time to someone, so it meant something to me to say it to Gerry. I know it would be hard — I’m sure it’s hard when you, maybe, do love two different people or three different people, but I just wouldn’t say it. I would just show my affection in a different way.”
Leslie added that Gerry told her that he said “I love you” to Faith, but she wasn’t aware he also said it to Theresa.
Leslie Says Gerry Was ‘Harsh’ at ‘AFR’
While Leslie acknowledged that there isn’t much Gerry could’ve said to justify his actions at AFR, she struggled with some of his word choices.
“[He said] something about choosing Theresa over me and I thought that was harsh,” she said. “He could have maybe said that a little bit nicer, especially because being chosen is kind of my [soft spot],” Leslie said before agreeing with Joe when he compared Gerry’s temperament to a business transaction. “Gerry — I feel like he switched. … I should have said, ‘I thought you were a man of integrity instead of [saying] you are a man of integrity.’ Because at the end of the day, he didn’t really have the integrity that I thought he had. I mean, listen, I know what I signed up for. … I didn’t expect it to be so hard.”
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Leslie Struggles to Say She Still Respects Gerry
When asked whether she still respects Gerry, Leslie hesitated.
“He did what he did. It’s his journey. Do I respect him? I just wish he would’ve done it different. I don’t respect what he did,” she said. “I mean, it started with Faith and then me a little more because I went to Costa Rica and did all that. So I feel like he just used ‘I love you’ too much. And do I respect him? That’s such a hard question, because I want to say I do. But it’s hard. He hurt me.”
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