Faith Martin captured our hearts the moment she was introduced on The Golden Bachelor. She earned Gerry Turner’s First Impression rose and became a beloved fan favorite. After the hometown dates, Gerry only had two roses to hand out, and Faith was sent home.
Hollywood Life spoke exclusively with Faith about her elimination, and the radio host revealed that she had an inkling she was going home during the rose ceremony. “When I walked up and talked to Jesse [Palmer] right in the beginning, at the end of our little short conversation, Jesse had said, ‘Sometimes in these shows, things don’t often go the way we hope they do. How will you be with that?’ And I was so keenly aware that, yes, it can go that way. But did I expect it? No.”
She continued, “But I remember thinking and looking at Jesse’s eyes and going, does he know something I don’t know? I think, honestly, in my own mind from the very beginning of the show, I could see in Gerry’s eyes that he had a little bit of a thing for Theresa [Nist]. I hadn’t really seen that with him and Leslie [Fhima], but I thought if he chooses Leslie, like if he gives Leslie a rose, then I know I’m going home. Or that there’s a pretty good chance I’m going home, right? Then he gave Leslie the rose, so I was standing there going, wow, I’m really going home. This is it. Gerry’s choosing out. So in that moment, I was just sort of trying to keep it together and wondering, of course, why is he choosing out? What’s going on? That was a hard night.”
During her hometown date, Faith was open with Gerry about how Benton City, Washington, is her home. “I felt like it was important for me to tell Gerry that my heart and my soul are with my kids and my grandkids,” she said. “I’m just not the type of person who could only see their kids or grandkids twice a year or something. I wouldn’t have minded sharing time, but I would have needed to spend the majority of the time here. Indiana’s an awful long way away.”
Faith also pointed out the “age difference” between her and Gerry — she’s 61 and he’s 72 — was something she always had in mind. “We talked about that a few times, so I definitely knew that logistically there might be some stumbling blocks that might give us the idea that even though we have deep feelings for each other, it might not be the way to go,” she noted.
However, Gerry and Faith both said “I love you” to each other, and Faith admitted that she was a “mixed bag of emotions” when Gerry sent her home. “I went through everything from shock, disbelief, hurt, and anger,” she continued. “I felt it all over the last little while. At the end of the day, though, I have to just be thankful for the heart treasures that Gerry gave me and the wonderful gift of just spending time with a wonderful person who was just so genuinely kind to me.”
Faith revealed that she “really respected Gerry’s wisdom. I knew that right from the beginning. He had in his mind specifics that he needed to have a sustainable relationship, and I certainly couldn’t fault him for that. It’s okay, but it does still make me emotional to think about it. Even though logically I get it, my heart is still raw.”
Faith and Gerry sat down for the first time since their breakup during the Women Tell All special. Faith told Hollywood Life that she was able to get the closure she needed from Gerry after their latest conversation.
“It was such a beautiful time,” Faith said. “It was so heartfelt. Initially, I was like, is he just giving these staged answers? But we finally really did get down to the nitty gritty and it wasn’t so much in the details that I needed to hear. The hardest thing for me was that night at the rose ceremony when I looked up at him, I saw nothing. It was like I was looking at a stranger, and that was super painful to me. It wasn’t that he didn’t choose me. It was, where did he go? I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to that person. We didn’t get to have that discussion. At Women Tell All, I was able to have that person present so that I could speak to his heart and him to mine. I felt like we got closure, and it just felt so wonderful. I was so thankful for the opportunity to have had that.”
The Golden Bachelor became the bonafide hit of the fall 2023 TV season, which has everyone wondering about a Golden Bachelorette spinoff. Faith revealed that she’s open to finding love again after Gerry and would consider being the first Golden Bachelorette.
“I would have to say, off the bat, of course, because this was seriously probably the best experience of my life except for giving birth to my kids,” Faith told Hollywood Life. “It was just such an enlightening, spiritual, reflective, introspective time. I’ve seen how the process works. I believe Gerry found love a number of times. It’s creating love, and they’re darn good at matchmaking to find these women that would be compatible with this man. I just feel like the process works surprisingly. So, yeah, I would jump at the opportunity.”