Gerry is about to be the world's first 'Golden Bachelor'. He really wishes he wasn't.

Seventy-one-year-old widower Gerry Turner will star as the very first 'Golden 'Bachelor' when the season premieres next month in the US.

The father of two daughters and grandfather of two college students is excited about the next phase of his life and the potential of finding love. 

"It’s never too late to fall in love again," Gerry (pronounced Gary) said recently on Good Morning America (GMA). 

"Don't give up, there's always possibilities."

Watch: The US Golden Bachelor trailer. Post continues below.

The active and social gentleman from Indiana who loves "hosting barbecues, playing pickleball, cheering on his favourite Chicago sports teams, four-wheeling, and spending time with friends and family," is looking for a woman he can share an action-packed life with.

"I'd love it if I found a partner who is high-energy," Gerry said. "Someone who maybe plays pickleball; someone who maybe plays golf."

While Gerry and his family look to the future, he was happily married for 43 years to his high school sweetheart Toni, and together they raised their daughters, Jenny and Angie.

The couple lived a "full and happy life" until Toni’s sudden death in 2017.

"She got robbed. Every day that goes by, that's the thought that I have," Gerry shared.

"I have her picture on a dresser in my closet. Every morning I give her a nod, 'So what do you think about this?' For a while it was like, I was having a hard time figuring out if she would be okay. But we always told each other when one of us goes, we want the other to be happy. She's up there rooting [for me]. She's saying, 'Yeah, Gerry. Do this.'"

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During a recent episode of Men Tell All, Gerry said that Toni died suddenly just weeks after she retired.

"We had a real typical but beautiful life, full of love, full of activity, and as years went on, I retired.

"We had a plan and we had an idea of what our dream house was going to be. So when Toni retired at the end of May in 2017, we bought that dream house, and closed on it on June 6th. 

"From June 6th on, it didn’t go according to plan at all. She became ill and her situation got worse over a couple of weeks."

After tearing up and causing the studio audience to get emotional along with him, Gerry said Toni died from a devastating and deadly infection.

"We went to the emergency room and she had a bacterial infection that infected her kidneys and infected her liver. So I took my wife to the emergency room on July 7th. She passed away on July 15th."

After Toni's sudden death, Gerry said he reflected on how he had his dream house but without his dream woman: "This is her dream. This is what she deserves. Why am I standing here alone?"

It was the love of Jenny and Angie with teen granddaughters Charlee and Payton that got him through the darkest times after Toni passed away.

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"No one’s ever going to replace Toni, but the love of my daughters and my granddaughters pulled me out of a dark spot," Gerry said.

After such heartbreak and a long period of mourning his sweetheart, Gerry is finally ready to get back out there with a new woman at his side. 

"I want to fall in love. I really want to find my person who can put me in my place when I need it and make me smile. The person who can lay down beside you at night, and not have to say anything."

Laura Jackel is Mamamia's Senior Lifestyle Family Writer. For links to her articles and to see photos of her outfits and kids, follow her on Instagram and TikTok.

Feature Image: Instagram/@goldenbachabc