Ready for love!

This week, 71-year-old Gerry Turner was announced as our very first Golden Bachelor and fans couldn’t be more excited.

Now our leading man is stopping by the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast to open up to co-hosts Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt about how he feels going into the journey to find love.

The co-hosts asked Gerry what he’s looking forward to as the Golden Bachelor, and he said, “I’m really most excited for that first night when I get to meet all of the women and get a first impression from them. That is really a moment that I think will set the tone mentally for me.”

Serena asked Gerry if he’s nervous about anything going into the experience, and he said he’s actually just excited.

The Golden Bachelor shared, “People have asked me so many times if I’m nervous and I’ve said no, I’m really not. I’m beginning to think I’m super naive or something and that I should be more nervous. I’m more nervous about stepping on a rake and breaking my nose here at home than I am anything about the show. It doesn’t make me nervous — it makes me excited. I feel energized and I can’t wait!”

Overall, Gerry said he’s really just looking forward to soaking up every second of the process and is genuinely looking for love.

He explained, “I kind of want life to slow down. I want to enjoy every moment. I want to make a mental note or write in a journal at night about some of the high points of my day. I want to remember those moments. If I can do that, then I know it’ll be fun.”

Joe asked Gerry how he plans to go about dating around 30 women at once.

Gerry said, “I have given it a lot of thought. You can’t get away from it. What I’ve been spending a lot of time doing is thinking about what are the good questions to ask that will reveal character and reveal whether or not someone is a high-energy, competitive person.”

The Golden Bachelor went on to reveal what’s most important to him in a potential partner.

He said, “It’s really important to me if they are close to their family. I’ve dated a few women along the way and it’s very revealing when someone doesn’t have good friendly ties with their children. It manifests in a number of negative ways.”

To hear more of Gerry’s conversation with Joe and Serena, check out the full episode of “Bachelor Happy Hour” below.