‘Golden Bachelor’ Gerry Turner Finally Breaks His Silence About His Insanely Large Lion’s Head Tattoo That Left Fans In Shock

Gerry Turner has made his way into America’s hearts over the course of the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelor. The fresh take on the ABC’s famed franchise has certainly stunned fans in many ways, including the reveal of Turner’s surprisingly large tattoo.

While fans witnessed Turner’s tat in the season’s fourth episode — when he stepped into the hot tub during his one-on-one date with Leslie Fhima — he opened up about the saying that inspired the large lion’s head on his right shoulder on this morning’s episode of Live with Kelly and Mark.

“There was a point in time where I was thinking about taking on more responsibility in business and so forth,” he explained to Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, likely referring to his time working as a restauranteur.

“There’s this saying about every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up [and] it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or a gazelle wakes up and it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten,” he said.

He noted that “it doesn’t matter if you’re a lion or a gazelle,” but said, “when the sun comes up, you better be running.”

“And so that was something that I really believed in at the time, and when I saw that poster I thought, ‘that’s the perfect tattoo,'” he continued.

Consuelos swooned, telling his wife and co-host, “I just fell in love with Gerry.”

“I’m in love with you!” Consuelos assured Ripa. “I’m in love with you, but I’m in love with Gerry!”

Ripa asked him if he can “be in love with two people at the same time,” referring to Turner dropping the “L word” on two different women during last week’s episode. Consuelos replied, “it’s happening right now.”

Other intel dished out by Turner on today’s Live segment included his thoughts on a certain contestant — who remained unnamed during the interview, but was likely April Kirkwood — who faked an injury while playing pickleball in order to spend more time with him. While Consuelos deemed the bit “an interesting ploy,” Turner said that he “actually thought that was a bit annoying.”

“In a group of women who were elegant and poised and graceful, I saw that as being a little bit of a disconnect with the appearance of all the other women,” he said.

Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings. The Golden Bachelor airs new episodes Thursdays at 8/9c on ABC. Next-day streaming is available on Hulu.