If there is one thing to know about Gerry Turner, the lead of the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor, it’s that he loves a good pickleball match.
Having expressed his love for pickleball numerous times in interviews leading up to the premiere of The Golden Bachelor last month, there is one conversation that trumps them all — that Gerry got to speak to the people at USA Pickleball themselves!
With a pickleball group date airing on October 19, 2023 on ABC (where Gerry, host Jesse Palmer, and first-ever Bachelorette Trista Sutter appear to be the judges), we reflected on the 71-year-old’s exclusive interview, in which he talked about all things surrounding the sport.
Keep scrolling to see the Golden Bachelor himself gush about his favorite pasttime…
To kick off the coversation, Gerry revealed how he became a member of the pickleball community in the first place, playing about three times a week (typically on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays).
After spending years and years back in Iowa trying to find a good location to learn how to play pickleball, Gerry was rather unlucky, however, when he moved to Indiana about three years ago, an article in a local newspaper answered his prayers. Highlighting a particular pickleball-playing facility in his town, he began to research more and more about what the sport was, eventually becoming an expert.
“I was looking for a way to release and tap into some of my competitive energy,” Gerry shared in regards to why he began playing pickleball. “The other part of it, of course, is that I found the social side of the game to be so satisfying. The best friends I have right now are my pickleball friends, and playing the game has just gotten better and better over the years.” How sweet is that?
While Gerry recently moved from Hudson, Indiana to Los Angeles, California to film The Golden Bachelor, he believes that the pickleball community is the same, regardless of where you are, maintaining its one-of-a-kind environment that is just soooo welcoming.
“The spirit of the competition stays the same, but it’s also not a cutthroat environment. People are inclusive with players who aren’t quite as good and that’s something that I’ve seen from coast to coast which I think is really nice,” the restaurant owner concluded, ultimately tugging on our heartstrings.
As mentioned, the Golden Bachelor has particularly enjoyed the social aspect that comes with the sport, playing pickleball with various friends and family members over the years.
With two daughters, Angie and Jenny, as well as two granddaughters, Charlee and Payton, Gerry has managed to make playing pickleball a family function: “We were recently on a trip in the Indianapolis area and they wanted to know about the sport, so we found a couple of open courts and I got them all playing all at once. It was like herding cats for a while, but eventually they figured out the game and enjoyed it.”
In addition to his family members, Gerry has admitted to having an individual in his life who he refers to as his “pickleball wife,” and the duo has competed in various tournaments together (with mixed doubles tournaments being his absolute favorite).
“We started playing the game together and weren’t instantly drawn to one another, but over a period of time, we found that our games were very compatible… She’s a good coach,” he gushed about his so-called “pickleball wife.”
As we know, Gerry is looking for wayyyy more than just a “pickleball wife” — he wants to find a real wife on The Golden Bachelor!
In the same interview, the avid pickleball player revealed that his love for the sport has impacted what he looks for in a partner: “The ability to read each other’s body language, strengths, and weaknesses applies to pickleball, but it also applies to real life relationships… When you can read your partner and know that something isn’t quite right or that things are going well and clicking for your partner, that’s a real plus for both the game and also life.”
Catch new episodes of The Golden Bachelor at 8pm ET/PT every Thursday on ABC — with the highly-anticipated pickleball group date tonight (as well as loads of drama during last week’s episode), things are starting to get intense!