Gerry Turner‘s journey on The Golden Bachelor will end in an unforgettable way. Ahead of the first season finale of Bachelor Nation’s hit senior spinoff, ET spoke to host Jesse Palmer, who broke down everything to come for the first-ever Golden Bachelor.
In the season’s penultimate episode, viewers saw Gerry have his Fantasy Suite dates with both Leslie and Theresa. The romantic overnight dates were preceded by a conversation with Jesse about whether or not Gerry would be “knocking boots” when the cameras turned off.
“That was a conversation that I’m never going to forget,” Jesse told ET with a laugh. “Talking to a 72-year-old man about intimacy and what he expects going into Fantasy Suites. There were moments I just wanted to jump into the volcano that was behind us there in Costa Rica.”
Later in the episode, Gerry told the cameras that he’d made his choice between Leslie and Theresa. The finale’s preview, however, showed both women meeting Gerry’s family, leaving some to wonder if he’d changed his mind.
“I think he’s letting the thing play out until the very, very end,” Jesse told ET of Gerry. “I think he was very open to every conversation, every moment with these women potentially opening new doors and discovering more. I think that he was really excited to do that.”
“Part of that is the women meeting his family, but I think a big part of that too is just the time that he spends and the chemistry that he has, and just being honest with himself,” he continued. “He’s had a lot of very difficult goodbyes throughout the course of all of this, but the final goodbye is by far the most heartbreaking, the most difficult for him. I think people are going to see that at the finale.”
Indeed, in the preview for the season finale, Gerry is open about his emotional struggles.
“I think I made a mistake,” Gerry says in the preview. “The only time I’ve ever felt worse in my whole life is when my wife passed away, and this is a godd**n close second.”
“For me, I just felt for him so much. I just wanted to be a shoulder to cry on and an ear for him in that moment, because I could see how much pain he was in,” Jesse said. “I think that’s the most emotional goodbye that I’ve ever seen in the show’s history — from Bachelor, Bachelorette, Paradise. I mean, it’s really gutting. It’s heart-wrenching.”
“That moment, that talk with Gerry, was about as raw a conversation as I’ve had with anyone, probably the most raw that I’ve ever seen or I’ve ever had with anyone since I’ve been hosting the show,” he continued. “That’s a moment I’m never going to forget. Just because I could see that it was heartbreaking for him. The way he described it, it was just so visceral. I don’t even know how to describe it. It was just really intense.”
While Gerry, who’s said he’s in love with both Leslie and Theresa, has had “very hard” goodbyes thus far, it’s been “nothing like [fans are] going to see during the finale,” Jesse said.
All of it will play out during a live finale, with both of the final two women on hand to break down everything.
“We’ll talk about it and walk our way through it,” Jesse promised, before reminding fans that, in addition to the heartbreak, “there’s love.”
“Gerry showed up wanting to find someone he could spend his golden years with, and I think he found that,” he said. “I’m really excited for us to make that announcement, see the happy couple. It will be an emotional rollercoaster. There is no doubt. I know this is going to be a finale that Bachelor Nation has never seen before, and one they’re absolutely not going to want to miss.”
The Golden Bachelor will air its season finale on Nov. 30. Follow along Gerry Turner‘s journey for love with ET’s coverage of the show.