The Golden Bachelor contestant Nancy Hulkower opens up about her experience with grief and the decision to wear a wedding dress on the group date.
It certainly would not be a proper Bachelor show without a few tear-jerker moments sprinkled throughout each episode. And The Golden Bachelor has already proven to be no exception. In last week’s episode, contestant Nancy Hulkower offered up an early poignant moment during her group date with Gerry Turner.
During the group date, contestants were asked to pick out costumes for a romance novel photo shoot. The date was meant to be a lighthearted and romantic opportunity for the contestants to get to know Gerry. But for Nancy, her choice to wear a wedding dress eventually became too much for her. In an endearing moment, Gerry was able to pick up on Nancy’s emotional state. She opened up about the memories the wedding dress brought up and her grief that went along with those memories.
“I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t had a wedding dress on for, gosh, 36 years,” Nancy told Gerry, “It was when I married the love of my life. And I was like, this invokes and brings up so many emotions that were all good. I was lucky to have my husband. I was lucky he’s the father of my three children. But just having on a wedding dress, it was overwhelming.”
Their emotional conversation didn’t push Gerry away. As a widower, he appeared to connect with Nancy on a deeper level. Ultimately, Nancy received the group date rose.
The Emotional Toll Of Wearing The Wedding Dress
In an interview with Bachelor Nation, Nancy talked about her choice to wear that wedding dress. “We had to pick out an outfit. Some people were running to get the best outfit. I wasn’t sure what to pick, and then more people were picking, so then there were three wedding dresses. I didn’t think anything of it and picked a wedding dress,” she said.
Nancy notes that her emotions didn’t get the better of her until she actually put the dress on. “I was fine. I was putting on the wedding dress and somebody zips me up and then somebody said, ‘Nancy, you look so beautiful as a bride.’ This wave of 23 years of being married and 25 years of being together hit me. It wasn’t just the dress, it was the reminder of what we had for 25 years. That dress was just the reminder. I broke down.”
For Nancy, it was Gerry’s empathy that brought a sense of calmness to the situation. “He knew that I wasn’t doing great and I thought that I was just going to be honest. He said I wasn’t being my normal self, but I just shared that it was really hard for me that day. That’s where I felt like we had a connection.”
“[Gerry] totally could sympathize and then shared the story about his wife and the cinnamon rolls and that he had broken down when he smelled cinnamon rolls because she used to make them. He got teary-eyed and was very sweet. Then he asked me about my husband, and while I was embarrassed that I was crying, it was this rush of 25 years of truly happy marriage and three kids. He had a long battle with colon cancer and it was just like that all at once.”
Nancy Hulkower Discusses Her Grief
Despite her willingness and desire to move on, Nancy says that it’s much easier said than done. “It’s been 12 years since my husband passed away. I have dated and I have tried the dating apps and through friends, I just haven’t met the right guy. I have been ready, but that’s happened once or twice before where something reminded me of him and I broke down.”
Nancy explains that her grief and the emotional state that she was in was nothing that Gerry couldn’t handle. “What Gerry and I talked about is that you will always carry that grief with you. That happens to me in private. Sometimes I cry, but now I do smile more and think about my late husband and we talk about him and smile more and cry less. So I think having the wedding dress on and feeling those emotions was good for me.”
There is a lot of time left in The Golden Bachelor’s debut season, but it’s hard to ignore the connection that Gerry and Nancy developed last week. What do you think? Is Nancy the perfect fit for Gerry, or is there another contestant who would be better for him? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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