Gerry Turner‘s Golden Bachelor runner-up, Leslie Fhima, saw his journey going in a very different direction before he proposed to Theresa Nist.
During the Tuesday, December 5, episode of “Bachelor Happy Hour,” Leslie, 64, opened up about the “special bond” she formed with her fellow season 1 contestants, including Faith Martin, who was sent home by Gerry, 72, after hometowns.
“I did [watch her breakup],” Leslie said on the podcast. “My heart broke for her. And I remember that night, we were just sitting separately. Not speaking, waiting. I wanted to talk to her so bad, but we couldn’t really talk to each other.”
Before Faith’s elimination, Leslie “really, really thought” the two of them would be making it to the finale over Theresa, 70. “I was shocked,” Leslie added. “And I wish I could have [held] her and cried with her a little bit.” (Leslie previously revealed in part one of her “Bachelor Happy Hour” interview that Gerry told her he said “I love you” to Faith, but she didn’t know he also said it to Theresa.)
Leslie and Theresa were in the running for Gerry’s final rose during the season 1 finale, which aired on Thursday, November 30. Following overnight dates, Gerry chose to end his relationship with Leslie after deciding his feelings for Theresa were stronger.
During the emotional breakup, Leslie wondered whether everything she and Gerry talked about in the fantasy suite was “a complete and utter lie,” but Gerry asserted that “at that time” he was being fully honest.
“You made it sound like you chose me. You said things that made me feel like this was going to be it,” she continued. “You led me down a path, and then you took a turn and left me there. That’s how I feel. It’s mind-boggling, to be honest.”
Gerry apologized, and Leslie eventually broke down once he left the room. “I’m tired of putting myself out there,” she said. “Time is running out.”
The twosome reunited during the live After the Final Rose special on Thursday, where Leslie accused Gerry of blindsiding her with his decision. “I just want to tell you, Gerry, that I fell in love with you for so many reasons. I really did. … The most important thing I fell in love with was your integrity,” she said. “And because of your integrity, your words meant so much to me. I didn’t take them for granted. I took them and I put them in my heart, OK?”
Leslie pointed out that “everybody knows” what Gerry said to her on the show, but what fans didn’t see were the conversations she and Gerry had behind closed doors. “I would never share that with anyone. It’s our private time,” she added. “But those words gave me 100 percent certainty that I was your girl. … And your words just meant so much to me, and that’s why I was blindsided. Because I wasn’t sure how it changed or what happened.”
Gerry apologized once again, noting that “it became more and more difficult” to send people home throughout the season once feelings had developed. “You were the person I believed was my person until I suddenly knew you weren’t,” he explained.
Following the finale, Leslie shed light on what Gerry told her off camera, claiming during the Monday, December 4, episode of “Bachelor Happy Hour” that Gerry made big promises in the fantasy suite. “He made plans with me for [the] future. … 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.”
Gerry proposed to Theresa, and the pair are planning to tie the knot on TV in January 2024. In a joint interview with his fiancée, Gerry confessed on Good Morning America that he “felt like a villain at times” throughout his Golden Bachelor journey. Theresa, meanwhile, admitted that she wasn’t confident she’d be The One in the end.
“We had beautiful, wonderful women there. Faith, Leslie — they’re amazing. I didn’t say, ‘OK, I’m running away with this,'” she said on Friday, December 1.
