"I did want the journey to continue"— Gary chimes in on his The Golden Bachelorette exit

After The Golden Bachelor's success, ABC announced The Golden Bachelorette's premiere on September 18, 2024. The 61-year-old Joan Vassos is the famed bachelorette who is looking for the love of her life. Joan was a part of the show's predecessor which featured Gerry Turner as the bachelor.

Episode 4 of The Golden Bachelorette saw four people sent home as Joan preferred to present roses to the rest of the contestants. One of those eliminated four was a 65-year-old retired finance executive and godson of Tina Turner, Gary Levingston. The two shared some memorable moments together on the show as Joan even FaceTimed Gary's son on his birthday.

In an October 11, 2024 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gary talked about his journey on the show and shared his thoughts on what went wrong that resulted in Joan choosing others over him. Revealing the fact that he was anxious, Gary expressed disappointment for not receiving a rose.

"The anxiety, the nerves — you're standing there, you're waiting, you're praying she calls your name. At the last rose ceremony, there were only four roses up there. And I'm thinking, 'This has got to be my day. This is maybe my day. This is not my day.' It was a pretty sad moment because I did want the journey to continue," stated Gary.

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Gary took two months to say yes to appearing on The Golden Bachelorette

Gary described his time on The Golden Bachelorette as special as he made several connections among his fellow bachelors. He later shared an interesting tidbit about his casting on the show. Gary was at a church service when one of the show's crew members asked him to sign up by handing him an application.

Initially, Gary refused to be a part of the show since he liked his privacy. Over the next two months, Gary befriended the crew member and decided to finally sign up for the show by filling up the application.

"And then from there, the rest is history. It took about two months or so for me to finally succumb and to do it, and here I am!" shared Gary.

He went on to praise the production team for doing a "fabulous job" showcasing all the moments that he was featured in. This included Joan giving Gary a framed picture of her from her prom while Gary also wrote the Golden Bachelorette a prayer.

Another memorable moment that Gary gave to everyone involved in the show was him ripping his clothes off during the Chippendale date. When prompted, Gary revealed that he didn't pre-plan the iconic moment and ripped his shirt off after Jonathan pulled his pants off. Jonathan's act made the rest of the bachelors think through their method of impressing Joan.

Gary further revealed that as he was walking down the ramp, he was already unbuttoning his vest, a moment he watched back after the moment was shown on the TV screens of America.

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Gary believes he made his late godmother Tina Turner proud

Gary had previously revealed that the legendary singer Tina Turner was her godmother growing up. In the same interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gary was asked how he thought her godmother would have reacted to see him appear in The Golden Bachelorette. The bachelor revealed that the late artist would have laughed with joy after seeing his godson on TV.

"But I think she would've laughed initially like, "You've got to be kidding. Are you really going to do that?" But I think she would've supported me 110 percent and said, 'Have fun along the way.' I know she's looking down from Heaven saying, 'Job well done. Job well done,'" revealed Gary.

Gary was eliminated along with three other contestants during week 4 of the show which included Charles, Dan, and Gil.

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Catch the next episode of The Golden Bachelorette on Wednesday, October 16 on ABC.