Shrewsbury's Theresa made it to the finals of "The Golden Bachelor," chosen by bachelor Gerry to introduce him to her family.

SHREWSBURY, NJ — It looks like "The Golden Bachelor" show will feature Shrewsbury next week.

Theresa, a local resident, is a contestant on the new "mature" take on "The Bachelor" franchise, and she made it through another round, as seen on Thursday night's episode on ABC.

"The Golden Bachelor" Gerry Turner made more painful decisions on the show, now leaving only three of the remaining six women in the running for his ultimate choice.

And Theresa (producers use first names only) is one of the lucky ones.

Now in next week's episode, the bachelor will get to meet the families of the three women - including Theresa's family.

Find out what's happening in Red Bank-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

There were originally 22 women chosen by producers to appear on the show. Their individual stories seemed as much as a draw to viewers as the choices Gerry Turner, 72, a widower and the first "golden" bachelor, must make each week.

The women on the show have been either widowed (as is Theresa), divorced or at times without a committed relationship for years.

But they all seem to find the experience of being on the show a lot of fun, living as a group in a California mansion, going on spectacular dates (like a balloon ride) and dining at some cool restaurants. And this is despite the elephant in the room - knowing not everyone can get a rose to continue on the show.

Theresa, 70, was the center of a bit of a tiff with another contestant the last two weeks after she was chosen early in the show's run for a private date with Gerry at a diner. The other woman felt she was sharing too much.

It made Theresa lose some confidence - but not hope. And she has always felt that she and Gerry could find true love with each other. And Gerry commented this week about how safe and secure Theresa makes him feel.

After several episodes, Gerry's guiding philosophy is to choose the woman he "can't live without."

Meanwhile, the TV audience still doesn't know the final outcome for Theresa. But it should be fun to see Gerry right here in Monmouth County.

So tune in Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. on ABC to see how it all works out - for Theresa and the two other women - Faith and Leslie - Gerry has chosen for family meetings.

You can learn more about the program here.

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New Jersey widow Theresa laid it out for "Golden Bachelor" Gerry Turner in the show's second episode: "At this age, we don't want to waste time. Just say how you feel."

Spoiler alert, if you haven't seen the show yet: He told her.

"I just gotta tell you, I like you a lot," he said.

It all came out when Theresa, from Shrewsbury, received the much-coveted first date out of the 15 women vying for the affection of the Indiana bachelor. (Local securities professional Theresa had made quite an impression on the bachelor in the first episode.)

In his date invitation to her, Turner wrote: "You're never too old to find love again."

Theresa confessed that she was thrilled but scared for the date, saying, "I think that I have a connection with Gerry, but Billy was the love of my life. And can I find that again?"

Billy, her high school sweetheart, died 42 years into their marriage, following a struggle with kidney issues. Before he took his last breath, he told her: "I hope you do find someone. I hope you get married again," she said.

Turner, a widower, was surprised at his reaction to what Theresa shared.

"I didn't feel like breaking down and crying, for once," he said, after her story. "I felt like I was talking to someone that understood the loss of a spouse."

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Theresa and Turner bonded over their losses while sharing fries and a shake at Cadillac Jacks Cafe, a '50s revival diner in California, used for TV and movie shoots.

As they talked, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" started on the jukebox, and cue the dancing: The waitresses and customers - actors - turned into a flash mob, dancing to the song, and led the two outside. Turner gave Theresa a rose, sealing her fate for another week.

"I have hope now," she said.

Twelve women, between the ages of 60 and 75, remain on ABC's "Golden Bachelor," airing Thursday nights.

Four-minute read

Special to the Asbury Park Press

SHREWSBURY - Growing up in a family of six, Matt Cottrell learned the value of hard work from his parents, who did not have a lot of money. It was the kind of lessons that paid off when he took over Bagel Masters in Shrewsbury.

“I was taught to hold myself to a high standard when it came to work,” Cottrell said. “My father was a Vietnam veteran and worked for JCP&L for over 30 years. My mother was a stay-at-home mom for a while, but started working soon after I was born. She went to school and became a social worker. They set an example for us, as far as hard work goes.”

Cottrell started playing sports at a young age and it gave him structure. “Sports helped me a lot back then when I played baseball and football,” Cottrell said. “One of many things that my parents drove home was to always show up on time for practice and games. They taught us to finish what we started, and that actions spoke louder than words. When you grow up in a house like that, hard work is valued very highly, and we learned that early in life.”

Cottrell admits he was not the best student in school and did not going to college after graduating high school. Needing a job, he got into the restaurant business.

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“I initially felt like I wanted to try a few different things, but, in the end, I gravitated towards the restaurant industry,” Cotrell said. “When you’re younger, it’s a lot of fun because, on one hand, you work hard and make good money, but it’s also a more relaxed atmosphere than working in an office. It was always a good time for me.”

'I felt lucky'

Cottrell began his restaurant career as a busboy and graduated to a server at a Hightstown restaurant called Tre.

“I worked there for five years and until I was 22,” Cottrell said. “I had the chance to work for a fantastic manager at the time and was having fun and making great money. For me, I don’t believe a lot of people can say they enjoy their job, but I honestly can testify that it was a great experience for me and I felt lucky that I could not see myself working anywhere else. It grew from there.”

After taking some time off from the restaurant industry and doing some odd jobs, Cottrell went back to Tre, but this time as a manager in a new location in Brick.

“I worked that job for a few years starting in 2019 up until COVID-19 hit,” Cottrell said. “We ended up closing in March of 2020, but we reopened a short time later and we did strictly outdoor dining. Unfortunately, none of the other managers returned, except for me. I was the sole remaining manager, and I became the general manager for both restaurants in Hightstown and Brick. I learned a lot and developed a lot of very good skills.”

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As Cottrell began to think seriously about his future, he decided the restaurant business just wasn’t the right spot.

“My fiancée and I talked about our future and felt like it was time to move on because it wasn’t sustainable,” Cottrell said. “We had very similar goals and aspirations and we decided to veer away from that path. I ended up leaving those restaurants altogether in the summer of 2021.”

Cottrell worked as a catering manager for another company and, while doing so, got a call from an old friend, Dennis Tafuri, about taking over Bagel Masters in Shrewsbury together.

“My current lifestyle wasn’t working for me anymore and I was ready for a necessary change,” Cottrell said. “The quality of life just wasn’t there, so I began to take on a new challenge. It was a great fit for me because it was a smaller location, and I would get out earlier with time to spend with my family. My wife was the one who encouraged me to go through with it, so we pulled the trigger on it.”

Previous owner Darren Weinstein ran business for over 25 years, and he paved the way for Cottell to take over in January 2022.

“Darren made this business a staple of the community,” Cottrell said. “He did an amazing job of hiring and developing an amazing staff. We were lucky enough to inherit all the great things he did with the business and things couldn’t have worked out better.”

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'You don't fix what's not broken'

After taking over Bagel Masters, Cottrell made some changes to the way he wanted to run the business, but what he did not change were the ingredients and the quality of the food.

“There’s an old saying, 'You don’t fix what’s not broken,'” Cottrell said. “That really applies to this business. In terms of recipes and food items, we didn’t change a single thing. We’ve added some new types of sandwiches and things like that, as well as some back-of-the-house changes, but for the most part, we just kept everything the same.”

And the Pork Roll champion is ...Beach Shack in Point Pleasant Beach!

Cottrell is the face of the business, but is part-owner with Tafuri.

“I have known Dennis for a long time, and he has always had my best interest at heart,” Cottrell said. “He is an amazing partner and a hard worker. We work well together, and we both make each other better businessmen.”

Cottrell wants to grow the business and focus on customer satisfaction.

“We have gotten to a good point so far, in terms of understanding how the business runs,” Cottrell said. "There are many positives and negatives about running a business, but we will always be thinking about what to improve on and how to meet expectations. What we have here is special.”

Bagel Masters

Address: 661 Broad St., Shrewsbury

Phone: 732-224-0333

Website: www.bagelmasters.com

Hours: 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekends

SHREWBSURY, NJ — One of the lucky contestants in Thursday's premiere of "The Golden Bachelor" is right in our midst - from Shrewsbury.

She was one of three New Jersey contestants, but the only one of the three chosen to continue her journey for what ABC producers call "mature love."

Theresa, 69, is in financial services, her bio from the show says. And she is among the 22 women who signed up to win 71-year-old Gerry Turner's heart on the show that aired its first episode Thursday.

Turner is a widower and the opening scene showed the support he had of his daughters in finding a "second love of his life."

In true "Bachelor" fashion, woman after woman appeared in amazing clothes and exhibited their uninhibited sides in such stunts as arriving on a motorcycle or, as one woman raised on a farm chose, making her way over to Turner with a basket of eggs - and later doing a little chicken dance.

Theresa herself had a bold move, showing him her "birthday suit," but it was just another outfit under her snappy black dress - albeit nude colored.

All the women seemed to enjoy the whole concept and some were unusually direct in their comments to Turner, as in "I'm gonna marry you!"

But six women were eliminated in the first round, including Anna, 61, a retired nutritionist from Summit, and Maria, 60, a health and wellness director from Teaneck.

Here's more about Theresa, who we'll check in on next week:

According to her ABC bio, Theresa is a "gorgeous catch with a huge heart. She is very close with her children and grandchildren and loves nothing more than seeing them all thrive. Theresa describes herself as optimistic, encouraging, and ready to love again after loss. She hopes to meet a partner who will be her best friend in this next chapter of life and will appreciate all the little moments with her."

Some "fun facts" about Theresa are that she loves to sing - alone in her car; she also taught herself all about the stock market and she loves '70’s rock, both soft and hard.

"The Golden Bachelor" airs on Thursday nights on ABC and is also available for streaming on Hulu.

SHREWSBURY, NJ — The latest "Golden Bachelor" episode on Thursday night answered a single, but crucial, question: Would our local contestant Theresa be chosen to continue as one of the two women reaching the finale of the show?

And we found out the answer was a bittersweet "yes."

On Nov. 2, the bachelor on the show, widower Gerry Turner, 72, of Indiana, was in the position of choosing two of three remaining women to continue to the finale.

In the "hometown visit" episode, he met the families of the three, including a trip to the Shrewsbury area, complete with scenes of Red Bank and the Shore.

But in the rose ceremony in that episode, he chose only one woman, Leslie of Minneapolis. He said he couldn't bring himself to choose between New Jersey's Theresa and Faith from Washington state.

That show ended with Gerry so pained he told the host of the show on Thursday "I felt like I had an elephant on my chest."

"The Women Tell All" was the theme of Thursday's episode, but it also resolved the cliffhanger when Theresa was indeed given that second rose by Gerry.

Now Theresa and Leslie are the last two remaining as contestants for the final rose.

Many of the original 22 contestants on the ABC show about mature love were featured in this past episode, reflecting on their time with Gerry, pronounced "Gary."

They recalled the experiences set up by the producers to create camaraderie: the pickleball tournament, the costume photo shoot and some unique dates with Gerry, including a balloon ride, dancing at a diner and a helicopter hop to a yacht, among others.

He and Faith had a tearful reunion. After what they both felt was a strong connection - she had received the "first impression" rose from him on the first episode, her elimination was difficult for her to accept - as it was for Gerry. He said the last time he felt a nearly similar pain was when he lost his wife, his high school sweetheart.

But a theme throughout was how the experience helped all the women feel less "invisible," and made them feel they were not beyond the chance of finding love again, now in their 60s and 70s.

And "finding love" with Gerry is a real prospect for our Jersey girl Theresa, 70, as well as for Leslie.

Gerry has said he's been in the odd position of feeling "genuine love" for several of the final contestants. But his measure has always been, he said, to choose the person he "can not live without."

Next week, there is a "fantasy suite" episode, featuring a trip for the three to Costa Rica.

Then we all can take a break for Thanksgiving until the finale of the show on Thursday, Nov. 30.