The Golden Bachelor lead Gerry Turner has flaws but he’s still the best Bachelor star

The Golden Bachelor has been wildly popular with Bachelor Nation.

The first season premiered to an audience of over 4 million viewers, and it’s one of the most talked about reality shows currently on the air.

The View discusses what’s going on with Gerry Turner on Thursday nights almost every following Friday. Kelly Ripa can’t stop talking about him either.

Up until recently, Gerry’s time on The Golden Bachelor has been nearly flawless.

He’s been hailed as a pure gentleman — thoughtful, kind, and generous with his affection.

He did catch some flak for recently telling two of the women competing for his final rose that he was in love with them but some think that may be a setup for The Golden Bachelorette announcement and they may not be wrong.

Overall, Gerry is easily the best Bachelor star in the history of the franchise and while some may chalk that up to age and maturity, there’s more to him than just that.

Gerry Turner was not just a restauranteur but also a mediator

It’s no secret that Gerry was a restauranteur prior to retirement, but one thing he’s shared is that he also enjoyed a career as a mediator.

That really explains a lot, including his calm demeanor and the way he handled the situation with Kathy and Theresa — visiting both women, consoling them, and even confronting Kathy when she continued to cause issues.

He has a zero-tolerance policy for drama, and he makes sure the women feel seen — well, except in April’s case, as she’s blasted The Golden Bachelor star for not paying enough attention to her but in my opinion, that could very much be a case of sour grapes.

Gerry revealed his mediator background when talking to Glamour about the Kathy and Theresa drama when he revealed that even after watching it all play out on-screen, he wouldn’t go back and change anything.

Best Bachelor stars in the history of the franchise

When looking back at the best Bachelor stars in the long history of the franchise, one that always comes up in the conversation is Sean Lowe.

Sean became The Bachelor after coming in third on Emily Maynard’s season of The Bachelorette. Maybe she should have chosen Sean because then, they may still be together.

Instead, she went with Jef Holm and they ended their engagement just a few months later.

Sean went on to take the lead and chose Catherine Giudici as his final rose winner. They got married in 2014 in a live television special and have three children together.

Despite Ben Higgins doing the same thing Gerry did — telling two women he was in love — he also is often listed as one of the best.

Ben didn’t even marry Lauren Bushnell but he won over viewers and has long remained a popular Bachelor podcast host and often gives his insight about the show and those who are on it.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. is another Bachelor star who often gets called one of the best and I think that’s due to his redemption after the show, not for what he did during it.

Longtime Bachelor viewers will recall that Arie originally picked Becca Kufrin as his final rose winner and even proposed. But then he changed his mind, admitted he still had feelings for Lauren, and called off the engagement.

Arie then reconciled with Lauren, they got engaged and then married and are still together today.

The best Bachelor star of all time is certainly debatable, but what we do know for sure is that whoever becomes the second Golden Bachelor star will have some huge shoes to fill.

The Golden Bachelor airs on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.