The Golden Bachelor featured Gerry Turner enjoying eye-opening overnight Fantasy Suite dates with Leslie Fhima and Theresa Nist and then finally making his decision between the two women during the show's penultimate episode that aired Thursday night on ABC.

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The Golden Bachelor broadcast began with Leslie, a 64-year-old fitness instructor from Minneapolis, MN, asking Gerry the last time he had sex. Gerry nearly spit his drink out and started laughing.

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The Golden Bachelor episode then flashed back to the beginning of Gerry's overnight Fantasy Suite dates in Costa Rica.

"I'm in the greatest adventure of my life," Gerry told The Golden Bachelor cameras.

"Next week is an engagement, and I can't believe how close I am to finding my second love of my life. It's going to be awesome!"

Gerry only had Leslie and Theresa, a 69-year-old financial services professional from Shrewsbury, NJ, left in the running for his heart, and he planned to ask -- and answer -- personal questions with each woman.

Gerry also noted the opportunity would be there to be physically intimate with each other.

However, he was in love with both women, and so he acknowledged he was going to have to make an incredibly difficult decision at the end of the week.

Gerry then sat down with host Jesse Palmer for a chat, and Gerry suggested he could still knock boots and have a little fun. But on a serious note, Gerry said he loved the idea of "pillow talk" and getting to know these women on a deeper level off-camera.

"The intimacy is there just because of the proximity and the level of communication goes way up because the barriers go way down," Gerry shared.

Gerry said he was going to have to figure out what he wanted for the rest of his life. Gerry called Leslie playful and authentic, and he said he felt "a shudder" when she leaned into his chest for a kiss, which made him want to say, "I love you."

And Gerry said he experienced a warm, safe and secure feeling with Theresa, who had suffered the loss of a spouse just like himself.

Gerry admitted that, for some reason, he held back from saying, "I love you," to Theresa, and maybe that was a mistake. Gerry explained how he wanted to say that in the right moment, with the right feel.

Gerry also shared how he didn't want to rush sex but he'd read the room during his dates.

"When the time is right, intimacy is, oh sure! What are crazy?! What are you nuts?! It's like there are moments when you go, 'I'm not going to pass this up; this may be the last time in my life!'" Gerry told Jesse, adding how it had been "a while."

Gerry said he wanted to make sure a woman felt as comfortable as possible before even thinking about having sex, and if that led to something more physical, then he'd let it happen organically. Gerry teased how his love making would be gentle, slow, and something to savor.

Leslie's date was up first, and she and Gerry rappelled down a 170-foot cliff to a beautiful waterfall. Gerry appreciated her sense of humor and thought adventure would be fantastic for them.

Leslie was a little afraid of the activity -- and of falling -- but she leaned on Gerry and trusted him. She had been hurt and abandoned in past relationships, but she let down her walls with Gerry.

Leslie said she felt at home with Gerry, and the pair was overjoyed once they made it to the bottom of the waterfall. They kissed in the water and embraced each other in the romantic setting.

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That night, Gerry planned to ask Leslie some important questions. He was afraid they had rose-colored glasses on, and so Gerry prompted her to ask some tough questions.

Leslie then asked about sex, and Gerry said it had been a while. For Leslie's part, she said it had been a year.

Gerry then asked a more practical question about where they'd live together. Leslie said she didn't want to leave Minneapolis permanently, because her children are there, but she loved Gerry and wanted to be with him. She joked about how they could be bi-Midwest couple instead of a bi-coastal one.

Gerry mentioned how he'd want to fully commit to each other, and Leslie admitted "till death do us part" was a "foreign" concept to her because all of the men in her past had let her down. Leslie said she didn't want to be alone anymore and she wanted to do like with Gerry.

"I'm not afraid of the commitment at all," Leslie insisted. "But you've been in this beautiful marriage and you know what it's like... and I want to do that, too."

Leslie admitted she tended to sabotage good things for herself, but she didn't want to do that this time. Leslie faced her fears and broke down into tears, and Gerry comforted her.

Gerry then invited Leslie into the Fantasy Suite with him, and she said, "I'm in!"

Gerry hoped the night would lead to some clarity for him.

Once the pair explored their Fantasy Suite and sat down for a chat together, Gerry told Leslie, "[Trista Rehn] gave me a piece of advice. She said, 'Gerry, you have to find the woman that you can't live without, not the one that you can live with.'"

He continued, "So I think you're The One. I think you're that one... I have to have you with morning coffee, I have to have you when I go to bed at night. And in the meantime, you'll have free time."

Gerry said he didn't know how they'd decide on where to live -- and they'd have to figure that out -- but there "was no one else [he'd] rather try to figure it out with."

Leslie assured Gerry that she wanted to figure it out with him as well, and Gerry told The Golden Bachelor cameras that he was "all in" on Leslie and was going to be 100 percent committed to her.

"And that commitment is going to be for the rest of my life," Gerry noted.

Leslie, meanwhile, felt like Gerry was her "person" and that she was "his." She said they complemented each other beautifully and she was looking forward to her happily ever after with him.

Once the lights were shut off and the cameras left, the microphones picked up on Gerry and Leslie talking about how the suite was really hot and what they should set the thermostat to.

"What do you like, 70?" Gerry asked.

"69," Leslie replied, which prompted Gerry to burst into laughter.

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The next morning, Gerry revealed he and Leslie had stayed up until 2-3AM talking. But Gerry admitted that what happened, intimately, behind closed doors was "nobody's f-cking business."

Gerry shared how his relationship with Leslie improved overnight and he could definitely see himself spending the rest of his life with her.

Leslie's love for Gerry had also grown, and she gushed about how she felt comfortable with The Golden Bachelor star and they just fit well together.

It then became time for Gerry and Theresa's date in Costa Rica. Theresa was overjoyed to reunite with Gerry, and they went horseback riding together across some beautiful sites.

However, Theresa could tell that Gerry was a little quiet and probably in his head a lot. She knew Gerry had a lot on his plate this week, but she really wanted him to focus on them.

Gerry opened up to Theresa about how he was overwhelmed with two wonderful women in his life, and Theresa reiterated how she loved Gerry and truly cared for him, as did her family.

Gerry had been working hard to compartmentalize his relationships and stay present in the moment with each women on The Golden Bachelor, but he was struggling to do that with Theresa.

"She is so gentle and kind. She is such a good soul. I don't want to do anything that hurts her, but it's like, I'm looking at Theresa thinking, 'What's wrong with you, Turner? She's the ideal woman for you,'" Gerry shared with The Golden Bachelor cameras.

"But at the same time, I'm thinking, 'What's Leslie doing right now?'"

Gerry wondered if his relationship with Theresa had gone as far as it could go. They had bonded over the loss of a spouse, but he wasn't sure they were moving forward. Gerry therefore wanted to explore new ground with Theresa and learn more about what makes her tick.

Gerry decided not to pre-judge or pre-determine any decisions, however, and so he recommitted to focusing on Theresa for dinner and the rest of the night so he wouldn't miss something.

As a result, Gerry asked Theresa, a former homemaker and day trader, to talk about her job in security and financial services, and Theresa told The Golden Bachelor star that if they got married and he wanted her to stop working, she would.

Gerry found himself impressed by the "responsible" bachelorette who really seemed to "have [her] sh-t together," and they asked each other a lot of questions and dove into the details of their daily lives.

Theresa then accepted the Fantasy Suite key, and Gerry said the dinner had served as a launching pad for the rest of their evening.

"I'm so glad I kept telling myself, 'Stay open-minded.' Had I closed off a little bit, I might have missed the opportunity of a lifetime with someone," Gerry confessed.

Theresa and Gerry were then shown making out on the bed in their Fantasy Suite, and Gerry could be heard saying, "You're really good at that!"

The next morning, Gerry and Theresa were drinking coffee together in bed, and Theresa said her night with The Golden Bachelor star was special and eye-opening.

"He saw a side of me that he didn't know existed," Theresa shared, adding how it was hopefully the first morning with her future husband.

Theresa was totally smitten with Gerry, who said it felt like "the first day of the rest of [his] life."

Gerry explained how he and Theresa had shared their hopes and dreams with each other, and he discovered that they understood each other on a very fundamental level. His trepidations or doubts about his relationship with Theresa apparently disappeared in the first hour of conversation behind closed doors.

"I'm crazy about you, and I love you," Theresa told Gerry.

"And you know how I feel about you. The nice part is, you know," Gerry replied.

"I know. I do," Theresa responded.

Gerry revealed that he had professed his love to Theresa in the Fantasy Suite and he meant it from the bottom of his heart. He said he felt "elated" upon saying it and it was "pretty awesome" to have such a sweet, private moment between them.

Both Leslie and Theresa were hoping for a marriage proposal at the end of the process from The Golden Bachelor star.

And Theresa confirmed, "If he asked me to marry him, I would say, 'Yes.'"

After the Fantasy Suites, Gerry admitted he was "dying inside" because he had truly fallen in love with both women. Gerry had also said, "I love you," to both women, and he could see a future with them both.

Gerry explained how Leslie is adventurous and she had his back, while he and Theresa had a special bond.

"We know what the other person is feeling, and we know what they've been through. This is an impossible task at this moment," The Golden Bachelor star lamented of his final decision.

"Someone is going to come out of this situation hurt beyond what I can imagine, and I'm running out of time. At this point, I know I can't put it off any longer."

Gerry concluded, "As hard as it is, I think I've made my decision."

The Golden Bachelor's finale will air on Thursday, November 30 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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