'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The first season of ABC’s The Golden Bachelor gave viewers plenty of drama to entertain themselves. Season 1 of the show saw 71-year-old Gerry Turner try his hands at love after losing his first wife.
Turner was given plenty of opportunities to connect with the 22 women who showed up. The selection for Turner has come down to two women, Leslie and Theresa. With the season finale set to hit ABC on November 30, a range of details about the first season have consistently come up.
This includes a hilarious admission from Turner himself related to the requirement of an STD test that he needed to get done even before the filming began.
The Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner was completely alien to STD tests
ABC tends to subject its show cast members to a stringent check even before they are allowed on the show. This includes FBI background checks, and Gerry Turner’s innocent history meant that he did not have trouble with any of them. However, when it came to STD tests, Turner was caught completely off-guard.
Considering the nature of the show and the Fantasy Suites vacation in Costa Rica that both Leslie and Theresa went on, Turner being disease-free was a primary requirement for the showrunners. However, during his recent appearance on the Life is Short podcast, Turner revealed that he was initially told about the tests when he was on a vacation in Florida.
While he gave his permission to be involved in the STD test, Turner revealed he had no idea what they would entail:
"That may have been my very first STD test. I had no idea what was gonna happen. I didn’t know if they were gonna look in the iris of my eye, take a urine sample a blood sample. I had no idea. Did not know."
Turner later revealed that he was happy that the tests did not involve a lot of effort. His initial confusion was proven right, as the network demanded all the samples he thought might be required. Having been married to Tina Turner for almost three decades and being with her for more than that, Gerry had simply never needed an STD test before.
However, appearing on The Golden Bachelor did not just involve him opening up to the possibility of finding love again. It also meant he needed to do things he had never done before. That, in addition to being out on dates with multiple women in a matter of days, also included adhering to the demands of the STD tests.
Turner talked about how the show for him, at the age of 71, was always about building an emotional connection. That has also been his aim since he appeared on The Golden Bachelor.
The Golden Bachelor season 1 will conclude on ABC on November 30 at 8 PM ET.
