‘The Golden Bachelor’s Faith Martin Speaks Out After Emotional Elimination: “It Shattered Me”

With only two episodes of The Golden Bachelor remaining, fans of the senior spin-off watched Gerry Turner’s toughest elimination yet: Faith Martin.

After three near-flawless Hometown Dates, Gerry gave Leslie Fhima his first Fantasy Suite rose. But Episode 6 ended with the 72-year-old lead breaking down in tears, unsure whether to send Faith or Theresa Nist home.

During the first ever Golden Bachelor “Women Tell All” episode, we learned that Gerry finally said goodbye to Faith, a 60-year-old high school teacher from Benton City, Washington. The third runner-up joined host Jesse Palmer on stage to watch her emotional exit. Then she shared more about her intense love for Gerry and the crushing heartbreak that followed her fateful elimination.

As Gerry walked Faith out of the mansion, she admitted that she saw hope in both of her son’s eyes and felt they wouldn’t worry about her so much if she found love. “Right now I’m numb. It’s gonna be a while before I figure it — if I ever figure it out,” she told cameras as her car pulled away from the mansion. “Maybe it was just all in my own head. I don’t know. I felt like we connected on a level where I was ready to marry the dude, you know? I wanted so much more for me. And I wanted so much more for my kids — for them to see me have that. Maybe it’s just not in the cards for me.”

When Faith took the stage during the “Women Tell All” special, she said, “Where do I begin? It’s gut-wrenching. It’s hard, because for the past 20 years I didn’t really open myself up to love, so going into this I thought, ‘OK. If I feel anything at all I’m going to go all in. And it shattered me.”

“I think in that moment the thing that was going through my mind is, ‘Oh my god, my poor family.’ I thought, ‘Oh my god they’re gonna be so sad for me. I can not let them be heartbroken,'” she told the franchise host. “But I’m not gonna lie, it hurt. Because that connection that I had was just gone in an instant. I’m thinking, ‘How did we go from up here to literally nothing?'”

When Faith and Gerry reunited on stage for the first time since saying goodbye, the two embraced each other and sobbed for a moment before getting some much-needed clarity and closure on their breakup.

“From Day 1 I felt that connection, that safe place — but when I looked up that day when you walked me out it was like I was looking at a stranger. So I felt that complete disconnect and that was the most devastating thing to me,” Faith told Gerry. “We went from hometowns — and the way we left each other was so great — and to just have it be nothing…”

Gerry quickly assured her their relationship wasn’t “nothing,” saying, “Believe me, I have thought about that night and those moments where I had told you that I loved you. And in those moments I did. I genuinely loved you. I felt like I had built and created something along with you only to destroy it in a brief moment,” he said.

Faith stressed the fact that she let down “30 years of wall” with Gerry and wasn’t sure anyone but him could have broken them. “It was the first time I relaxed in somebody’s arms and felt safe,” she said. “You could have walked off with me right then and I would have been yours for the rest of my life. I felt that safe. And I’ve never felt that way.” And finally, at long last, Gerry addressed the fact that he straight-up told Faith he loved her in front of her entire family and promised he’d be careful with her heart during their Hometown Date.

“My heart went out to you that night, and I think that was the saddest part. That I wasn’t able to express that to you… You want to know what makes me feel the worst? I promised your family something and I broke that promise,” he said. “That’s so awful. I promised them I would protect your heart and I didn’t do that.”

Despite the pain he caused, Faith assured Gerry that she never felt he deceived her or purposefully broke her heart. And Gerry gushed over her character, saying he’s a better person for having met her. Aww!

Here’s hoping we haven’t seen the last of Faith. For all we know The Golden Bachelorette (a currently non-existent spinoff that we desperately need ABC to announce) will call her up for another shot at love.

New episodes of The Golden Bachelor air weekly at 8:00 p.m. on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.