The Golden Bachelor season 2 contestant Gerri Flowers is choosing to focus on the positives after being sent home by lead Mel Owens.
“I was like, ‘Wow, OK.’ But I said, ‘You know what? This experience tops it all, then I can’t be sad,’” Gerri, 64, exclusively told Us Weekly of her mindset after not receiving a rose in the Wednesday, October 8, episode. “It’s that old saying, ‘It’s better to have loved then not to have loved at all.’ And that’s really how I felt. I really felt like that. I mean, I was a princess for the time that I was there and that was lovely. Some people don’t have that.”
While saying goodbye to Gerri on Wednesday, Mel, 66, asked if he could walk her out of the Bachelor mansion — a gesture he didn’t do for the other contestants he sent packing. The pair proceeded to share one final moment, and thoughts on their connection, at the threshold of Gerri’s exit car.
“I said, ‘You touched a piece of my heart.’ You don’t say that lightly. I wished him luck. The fact that he walked me out — [he’s ] such a gentleman, it was so endearing,” Gerri recalled to Us. “It was just like, ‘Will our paths meet again?’ Maybe, maybe not, but who knows?”
While the moment provided Gerri with closure, she has one final question she hopes to ask Mel someday: “You said to me that you learned something from me. What was that? What did you learn from me?”
Saying goodbye to Gerri — who received Mel’s coveted first impression rose — may have tugged at the heartstrings of viewers in the Wednesday episode, but fellow contestant Nicolle Kate Briscoe’s remarks about hoping to become an influencer post-show were … less endearing. As the remaining contestants debated sharing their concerns about Nicolle with Mel (she might not be here for the right reasons, after all!), Gerri recalled steering clear of the drama.
“I’m not a selfish person at all. But I was like, it’s really about me right now, and I really don’t really care what’s going on. I’m here to listen and minister whoever wants to talk. But I was just loving my time. I didn’t have to do anything for anybody. The most I had to do was stir that mix for those lemon bars. And I was like, ‘Wow, OK,’” Gerri quipped, before adding that she wasn’t completely aligned with her costars’ concerns about Nicolle. “But no, I didn’t feel that. I didn’t get all that. I just didn’t.”
The lemon bars in question, cheffed up by Gerri and a couple other costars, were gifted to Mel by — you guessed it — Nicolle in an effort to win over his heart (and stomach) poolside.
“The only thing I said to myself with the lemon bars, I said, ‘I didn’t even get to taste them.’ That’s what I was upset about. She took credit for it, OK, but I didn’t even taste it,” Gerri told Us. “And then my daughter said to me, ‘I didn’t even know you baked, Mom. What did you bake? You never baked for us.’”
Drama aside, while Gerri may not have been The One for Mel, she is entering an era of “endless possibilities” after learning that it’s time to put herself first for a change.
“Gerri, it’s your time. It really, really is your time. You give 150 to people, allow yourself to do for Gerri, whatever that looks like. Make Gerri happy, because you so, so deserve it,” she told Us of what she’s learned from her journey on the show, before getting emotional about her late husband David’s wishes.
“David would want you to be happy. He really would want you to be happy. So you hold on to that. You raised these beautiful, amazing children for 18 years, and it’s really your time. Go with that. He wants you to do that,” she concluded. “He’s got someone out there that he’s got his eye on for you. He’s up there in heaven. So he knows, so it’s coming. And just get ready. Just get ready.”
The Golden Bachelor airs on ABC Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET
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