Will Leslie Be the Golden Bachelorette? Here’s Who Gerry Wants

Now that we can safely say that everyone in Bachelor Nation is Team Leslie, we’re left with one question on our minds: Will Leslie be the Golden Bachelorette? Keep reading for where Leslie is now and whether Gerry’s runner-up could be the first-ever Golden Bachelorette.

Leslie Fhima, a 64-year-old Fitness Instructor from Golden Valley, Minnesota, was the runner-up on the first season of The Golden Bachelor, a spin-off of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette featuring single men and women aged 60 and older. Season 1 was led by Gerry Turner, a 72-year-old Retired Restauranteur and widowed father whose wife, Toni Turner, died in 2017 from cardiac arrest. “Some of the casting interviews we got, they were just so touching,” ABC unscripted executive Rob Mill told Variety in 2020 about why the network wanted to create The Golden Bachelor. “It’s such a different way of doing The Bachelor because these people are just at a totally different place in their lives. There is an interesting thing about people who have hit the other end of the spectrum, who’ve lived their lives, they’ve raised their kids, some have been widowed or divorced and maybe some have never been in love. We thought that would be an interesting dynamic through the Bachelor prism.”

Gerry was announced as the Season 1 Golden Bachelor on Good Morning America in July 2023. “It’s never too late to fall in love again,” he said. Gerry is a father, grandfather, and widower. He married his wife and high school sweetheart, Toni, in 1974. They share two daughters, Angie and Jenny, and two granddaughters, Charlee and Payton. Gerry and Toni were married for 43 years until her death from an illness in 2017, six weeks after her retirement. “She got robbed,” Gerry told Good Morning America about Toni. “Every day that goes by, that’s the thought I have.”

Leslie was one of two finalists in The Golden Bachelor Season 1 finale, along with Theresa Nist, a 70-year-old Financial Services Professional. She was eliminated in the final two after Gerry sent her home and gave his final rose to Theresa during the Final Rose Ceremony. Since The Golden Bachelor Season 1 finale aired, fans have become firmly Team Leslie. But Will Leslie be the Golden Bachelorette? Read on for what we know about whether Leslie will be the Golden Bachelorette and who Gerry wants to be the lead. (For more on the Golden Bachelorette, check out our Golden Bachelorette predictions here.)