Faith Martin Wanted to 'Hide Out' After 'Golden Bachelor' Rejection

Faith Martin

The woman Gerry Turner had a shocking breakdown over eliminating on The Golden Bachelor is finally speaking out about her time on the new series.

Faith Martin and Gerry had told each other they were in love during their Nov. 2 Hometown Visits, but things had changed by the next rose ceremony.

In week 6, the episode ended with a cliffhanger of Gerry giving a rose to Leslie Fhima and then crying, cursing and refusing to decide whether to give his final rose to Faith or Theresa Nist.

On tonight's Women Tell All episode, fans found out that Gerry chose Theresa and tearfully sent Faith home.

It was the unkindest cut for Gerry, who had bonded strongly with Faith during his visit to her hometown.

Viewers were stunned at their emotional reunion during Women Tell All, in which both cried buckets. Gerry tried to explain why he let her go, and Faith got the closure she needed.

Related: Who Does Gerry Pick on The Golden Bachelor (Spoilers!)

Days after filming the special, Faith, 61, sat down for an exclusive Zoom interview with Parade to chat about her Golden Bachelor experience, how she's moved on and plans for the future.

Did the Women Tell All episode help her find closure?

“When [host] Jesse [Palmer] said, ‘Are you ready for Gerry?’ I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know,’" she said. "I didn’t know how I would feel until the minute I saw him…he walked in, the next thing I knew, I was standing up hugging him. It felt so good to just reconnect with him like that. There’s a great warmth to Gerry’s hugs and to just feel like, that was the Gerry I knew and remembered and loved, right?”

“It felt so good to fall in his arms and hug him," she added. "It was absolutely spectacular.”

Related: Get the Scoop on Tonight's Women Tell All Episode

What does Faith think of Gerry now?

“I feel really good," Faith told Parade after hashing things out with Gerry on Women Tell All. "There’s no denying I love that man! I felt genuine love from him to me as well. We’re both at a place where we can say we love each other. We can make it a different kind of love where it’s just a respect and human-to-human love. I feel good that we got closure, that we will always be on good terms, that we know that we care about each other and hope for good things for each other in the future."

How did she feel about the final three?

“I feel good that all of our connections with Gerry were specifically different," the mother of two grown sons said. "What he loves about Leslie is different than what he loves about me and what he loves about Theresa. I think he genuinely feels love for all three of us. He has to choose what he needs in his life moving forward and that’s a decision I’m OK with.”

Related: Meet The Golden Bachelor's Sexy Single Ladies 

What is Faith's opinion of Leslie on The Golden Bachelor?

Faith and Leslie were holding hands at the hometown episode rose ceremony, but Faith said, “Leslie, I didn’t get to know as much as I would have liked to. I think there’s a super sweet side to Leslie. Probably of the group, I knew less of her than anyone. My heart went out to her, because I had known she had deep feelings for Gerry.”

Faith noted that when Leslie received the first hometown episode rose, “I felt happy for her that she had that rose. It’s hard not to feel—even though we are competing for the same guy, obviously—but you can’t help but feel for someone, so regardless of what was going on, I still felt happy for Leslie.”

What does Faith think of Theresa?

Although there was drama between Theresa and Kathy Swarts, who claimed she was boasting about her relationship with Gerry, it all seems to be a misunderstanding and perhaps a bit of clever editing from producers. On the Women Tell All episode, Kathy said she probably should have zipped her lips a bit too!

“That situation was a bit of a misunderstanding. At a time when there’s heightened emotions and lots of things going on, it’s real easy for someone to take something and misunderstand it. I never saw anything malicious come from Theresa ever. She was my roommate so I knew she didn’t think she had it…if Theresa was guilty of anything, it was just getting really excited.”

Should Gerry choose Leslie or Theresa?

Faith smiled, “I have no idea. I think that’s gotta be between what would really be long-term sustainable. Both are quality women and I don’t know what it feels like to be Gerry. I couldn’t even give him an opinion of who I think he should pick. But I think they’re both lovely women and both could be very good compatibility for him in the future.”

What does Faith think is the hardest part for Gerry

“Poor Gerry! Here he’s put in this situation where he’s been a one-relationship man for years and he’s with these beautiful women that are literally falling all over him," she said about the widowed former restaurant owner who lost his wife Toni in 2017. "I think it was really a difficult thing for Gerry to have all those strong emotions coming right at him in his face, and I think it was probably pretty easy for him to be caught up in the moment with all of these women and then trying to decipher which one would be a long-term relationship.”

How did Faith pick up the pieces after the dramatic rose ceremony?

“First I went up in the mountains, hiking with my dogs," the outdoorsy woman from Benton City, Washington said. "I went camping, did a little backpacking all around. Came home, was home two days, and then took my horse out and back up into the mountains I went...That’s where I’m happiest. Then I came back and, honestly, I secluded myself and other than my family, I didn’t feel like being out in public. I just wanted to hide out. I stayed off social media because I was not sure what I would see. I just kind of stayed hidden as far as that went. And then I slowly reached out to certain friends and, of course, I talked to the girls on the show through text and talked to crew because they’re such a wonderful support system.”

Next, Everything to Know About The Golden Bachelor