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“Golden Bachelor” alum Gerry Turner is certain the show’s new lead, Mel Owens, will be “cheating himself” if he decides to pursue his controversial plan of cutting contestants who are “60 and over.”
“I think it would be unfortunate, and I really think he will have a change of heart in this. I think he will see the grace and the charm of women who are over 60 and the confidence they carry, and I think he’ll have a change of heart,” Turner, 73, told Fox News Digital of Owens — who recently took fans by surprise when he admitted his plans to eliminate any woman on the show who is over 60 years old.
“The people that I met in my season, I go through them, and it’s like, they’re all a gift. To have gotten to know them… Each and every one of them [brought] some unique characteristics to the show, unique characteristics to life.”
‘GOLDEN BACHELOR’ MEL OWENS SETS STRICT AGE LIMIT FOR CONTESTANTS DESPITE PRODUCER PUSHBACK
“Golden Bachelor” alum Gerry Turner said the show’s new lead, Mel Owens, might be “cheating himself” if he plans to cut women over 60 years old. (Getty Images)
“The age thing… ignore the number, deal with the person,” Turner added.
During an appearance on the “In The Trenches” podcast in June, Owens, 66, opened up about the age limitations he allegedly requested ahead of casting.
“It’s blind up until they get out of the limo. But they asked me, ‘What’s your preferences?’ So, I just said 45 to 60, just being honest,” he said. “And then the process went, and I was selected, right? And then we had lunch with the executive producer. I said, ‘You know, if they’re 60 or over, I’m cutting them.’ ‘Oh Mel, you can’t, you know, this is not the ‘Silver Bachelor.’ It’s the ‘Golden Bachelor.’ He goes, ‘But they’re going to be hot, don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it.'”
Additionally, Owens said he expects the contestants to all be in good shape.
Mel Owens stirred controversy with his ageism remarks. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
WATCH: ‘GOLDEN BACHELOR’ GERRY TURNER SAYS NEW LEAD WILL BE ‘CHEATING HIMSELF’ IF HE CUTS WOMEN 60 AND OVER
“I had no resume, but they asked me, what is my, like, my profile?” Owens said. “Well, they got to be fit because I stay in shape. [They] should work out and stuff. And I told them, you know, try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs, you know, that kind of stuff, right?
“Well, I don’t think there are going to be artificial hips or wigs there, right? Because I know there’s amazing women out there.”
Turner said he’s confident ABC wouldn’t cast a lead who is that “shallow.”
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“His comments about anybody that’s had a hip replacement or has a wig or anything like that, I really don’t believe that the ABC producers in casting, particularly casting that I have a high level of confidence with, I don’t think they would be casting a person who has that shallow of a perspective. I think some of [Owens’ comments] requires some context, and it may have been taken out of context and so forth.”
Gerry Turner said he hopes Owen will have a “change of heart” when it comes to finding love on “The Golden Bachelor.” (John Fleenor/ABC)
“But bottom line is, I hope he does look at it differently because if he doesn’t, I think he’ll be cheating himself.”
During the first season of the show, the ladies vying for Turner’s heart were between 60 and 75 years old. Turner married contestant Theresa Nist shortly after the finale, but the couple got divorced three months later.
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Despite the failed relationship, Turner is grateful for his experience and hopes Owens can take a page from his playbook.
Turner found love with Theresa Nist during his season. The pair married, but divorced three months later. (Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images)
“If he treats each and every one of them with courtesy and respect and is a good listener, pays attention to them and so forth, and ignores their age number, I think it’ll be fine,” said Turner. “Everyone that gets thrown into this situation has to find their own way. I was fortunate enough, I had very good mentoring on the show. I had people that carefully moved me through some of the pitfalls that maybe Mel hasn’t quite avoided as much because I remember specifically being told just, ‘Gerry, ignore the age thing,’ that ‘You’ll really find beautiful women of all ages in the show.’ And I think he will as well.”
These days, Turner — who was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer last year — has found love again and is living life to the fullest.
WATCH: ‘GOLDEN BACHELOR’ GERRY TURNER GUSHES ABOUT HIS NEW LOVE, SAYS SHE MAKES LIFE ‘EVEN BETTER’
“I decided that I wasn’t going to say ‘no’ to anything,” Turner said of his change in perspective after his diagnosis. “Anything that came along, any trip, any chance to have fun, anything that I could do, I was going to take it on. Because I felt myself, even before the diagnosis, I was starting to get to that couch potato point where it was a little nicer to sit at home and do nothing than go out and fight whatever challenge it was to travel. And that’s really been quite a change for me.”
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Turner said he has a whole new perspective on life after being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer last year. (Brian Bowen Smith/ABC via Getty Images)
“So now something comes along, I say ‘yes’ to it,” he added. “I’m going to go. I’m going to do. So every day is a gift.”
Turner, who recently started dating Indiana native Lana Sutton, said he’s “happy” with where his life is taking him now.
Gerry Turner says his new girlfriend Lana Sutton makes life “much better.” (Gerry Turner Instagram)
“She has more energy than I do. She needs less sleep than I do. I really think she’s a more logical thinker than I am, which I think that’s a lot. But the nice part is we think and we approach things very similarly, so we don’t have any conflicts as we’re trying to make decisions and so forth. We generally arrive at the same place, sometimes not the same way, but usually the same place.”
“With Lana now in the picture, she makes [life] even better. It’s so good to have a partner that understands and is in it with you 100% and so forth. So it took me a while to get to this point, but I’m pretty happy with where I am.”
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