America’s Grandzaddy Gerry Turner is halfway through his Golden Bachelor journey, and four episodes in he’s closer to a second shot at love than ever before.
The 72-year-old stud started the week with nine remaining women, and a pickleball group date, an adventurous one-on-one, visits from two Bachelor Nation alums, and a rose ceremony later, he ended Episode 4 with just six special ladies.
With Hometown Week roses right around the corner, the stakes (and emotions) are sky-high. To quote Season 2 of The Bear, Every Second Counts. So let’s cut the chit-chat and dive into the highs and lows of Gerry’s fourth week as ABC’s first Golden Guy.
Wondering who snagged a one-on-one date? Who showed her skills on the pickleball court? And who went home? Decider’s Golden Bachelor recap breaks down the most memorable moments of Episode 4, starting with a visit to the mansion from former Bachelor contestant and first Bachelorette lead Trista Sutter.
The First-Ever Golden Bachelor Pickleball Championship
After chatting with the Golden Gals, Trista invited Ellen, Sandra, Susan, Nancy, April, Theresa, Kathy, and Faith on the group date Gerry’s been waiting for: pickleball.
Ger Ber was visibly in his element on the court alongside Trista and our soon-to-be Bachelor lead/tennis instructor Joey Graziadei. And after reminding Joey that these were his girls, everyone started practicing. We learned what “dinking” meant (hitting the ball nice and softly), we learned that pickleball captain Ellen plays four times a week, and we learned that April didn’t actually break her ankle — she just staged an elaborate fall to get some alone time with Gerry. Queen.
For the competitive portion of the date, the ladies split themselves into teams of two and dinked it out (duked it out, but for pickleball) to win a spot in InPickleball Magazine alongside Gerry — Ellen’s dream. The first-ever Golden Bachelor Pickleball Championship commenced with the following teams:
- The Purple Picklettes – Theresa and Susan
- Pinky Dinky – April and Faith
- Picklicious Paddles – Kathy and Ellen
- Bitchin’ Kitchen – Sandra and Nancy
As expected, pickleball expert Ellen’s team won the first round. But in a surprising turn of events, Bitchin’ Kitchen dazzled with an unexpected MVP: Sandra. At one point Sandra dove into the crowd to make a crucial save, leading Jesse Palmer to announce that she was “playing with two artificial knees and also missing her daughter’s wedding.” Excuse me?! Yes, it’s true! “My daughter is getting married today, but I’ve got a goal,” Sandra told cameras. “We’ve got to dig our heels in and we’ve got to give it our all.”
Between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce dating and The Golden Bachelor taking on pickleball, it’s been an amazing month for people who don’t typically care about sports (me) but are now obsessed with them (also me). I could have watched these women get their dink on for hours, but despite Sandra’s hustle, the Picklicious Paddles took the trophy and won celebratory kisses from Gerry.
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A Wedding, An Afterparty, And A Fight
The Golden Group dressed up and reunited for a pickleball afterparty, which Gerry kicked off by pulling Sandra aside and FaceTiming her daughter on her wedding day. (If you think skipping a daughter’s wedding deserves, at the very least, a group date rose then you’re in luck! A deeply flattered Gerry gave it to Sandra without a second thought.)
The afterparty was a mostly positive event, with Gerry committed to finding the person he can’t live without. But the day did include some drama, courtesy of — yep, you guessed it! — Theresa and Kathy. After Theresa pulled Kathy aside and stressed that she didn’t mean to be malicious when oversharing her date deets, Kathy begged her to stop giving TMI. “Don’t kiss and tell,” she said. “Friendly advice: Zip it.”
Those words were enough to shift Theresa’s mood ahead of her time with Gerry, so she spilled the drama to her man, and Gerry grew concerned with the level of disrespect Kathy displayed. He pulled Kathy aside to question her about the interaction and she swore she wasn’t the villain, but was her argument strong enough? Stay tuned.
Gerry And Leslie’s One-On-One Date Recap
Post-group date, Gerry spent quality time with Leslie on a one-on-one complete with ATV rides, heart-to-hearts, and a sexy dip in a hot tub. Leslie told Gerry she hasn’t been great at choosing guys in the past, has been divorced twice, and is a single mother. She revealed she’d been alone for 22 years before coming on the show and likely would have left if he wasn’t the golden guy. So they toasted to their “beautiful blue eyes” and got in bathing suits for a steamy hot tub make-out sesh, during which we learned that GERRY HAS A TATTOO OF A LION’S HEAD ON HIS SHOULDER. I feel I can speak for Bachelor Nation when I say we need to know everything.
Never Have I Ever…Seen Seniors Play Never Have I Ever
Gerry and Leslie weren’t the only ones who got to know each other better in this episode. Back at the mansion, the women played a riveting game of Never Have I Ever with pints of ice cream and spicy questions. We learned April has kissed another woman’s husband, she and Sandra have each had sex in the workplace, everyone (except Kathy) has had sex in a car, and Susan has been with a woman sexually. Mid-game, Sandra stopped to tell cameras that she shouldn’t be eating ice cream because she’s lactose intolerant. She persevered, which resulted in her spending the rose ceremony sick in bed with stomach issues. Thankfully, she already had the rose! But not all of the women were so lucky.
The Golden Bachelor Episode 4 Rose Ceremony Recap
Ahead of the rose ceremony, Nancy (who sustained a stress fracture from pickleball) and Gerry realized their connection wasn’t as strong as others, so she essentially self-eliminated. He had amazing conversations with Susan (who he gifted a piece of rose quartz because her strength and empathy reminded him of his late wife), and Ellen (who admitted she was falling in love with him).
“To hear her say the things she just did makes me think back to the last time that happened, with my wife of 43 years,” Gerry cried. “When I lost Toni and I thought the world ended I never thought I would see it again, and yet I am seeing and feeling it.” And that, folks, is the magic of The Golden Bachelor.
In yet another standing ceremony (ugh!), Gerry gave roses to Ellen, Faith, Susan, and Theresa, which means Kathy and April headed home along with Nancy. With six women left, next week’s roses will also serve as tickets to hometown dates. So you won’t want to miss a moment of Episode 5.
New episodes of The Golden Bachelor air on Thursdays from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC. Next-day streaming is available on Hulu. And be sure to read our interview with Gerry Turner for more Golden Bachelor tidbits.
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