After a dusty, steamy date, Minnesota fitness instructor Leslie Fhima received a rose on Thursday night's episode of "The Golden Bachelor," becoming one of the final five women competing on the new reality TV series.
"I really want a true partnership, which is something I don't feel like I've ever had," the 64-year-old told Minneapolis resident told Gerry Turner, the 72-year-old widower from Indiana during a one-on-one date. Fhima told Turner that she's been divorced twice: "I don't have the best picker."
It was an intimate moment for Fhima, who so far has charmed Turner and audiences with her quick quips, sexy dances and rejection of the stereotypes attached to older women.
During one much-loved moment, she shared her strategy for avoiding drama in the house: "When I don't want to hear it," she said, grinning, "I just turn down my hearing aids."
Watching "Bachelor" fans appreciate his mom has been incredible, said her son Zack Chazin. "She's such an entertainer. So funny," he said. "I'm just so happy to see her getting sunshine right now."
Fhima, a longtime fan of the show, applied with the hope of finding a partner, Chazin said. "That's why I think this 'Bachelor' is so different than the others," he said. "These women aren't going on there to get famous. They're going on there to find love."
Fans and critics have praised this soulful spinoff of "The Bachelor," which features daters in their 60s and 70s, rather than their 20s and 30s.
The show's premiere last month hit a three-year ratings high for the dating franchise. ABC announced that "The Golden Bachelor" also broke streaming records as the network's most-watched premiere ever on Hulu.
Wearing a gray wig, Fhima made a grand entrance, pretending to feebly push a walker. Then she threw the walker aside and stripped off the fussy nightgown to reveal a short, strapless dress.
When Chazin first had kids, his mom hated being called a grandma, declaring: "No, I'm a glama."
"She has more energy than 90% of the people I know," Chazin said. "She's run 10 marathons, she's a national aerobics champion, she teaches dance classes and she's a fitness instructor.
"When you think of a grandma, Leslie Fhima is not what pops into your mind."
Websites that traffic in spoilers for the show predict that Fhima makes it far. The show itself offered a clue: During the season premiere, Turner chatted with fans on the Stone Arch Bridge, hinting that he might spend time in Minneapolis during the season's "hometown dates."
Such a date would showcase Fhima's life in Minneapolis, where she's an active "glama" to three grandchildren and a VIP host at the Fillmore Minneapolis. Chazin works for Live Nation, which runs that concert venue, and his mom was constantly hitting him up for tickets.
"I am a concert promoter, and she goes to more concerts than me," he said.
He asked her: "Why don't you just get a job there?" So she did, charming concertgoers since.
Fhima is always swimming or paddleboarding, skating or snowboarding, Chazin said. "She just doesn't like being inside," Chazin said. "She doesn't like to not be moving."
Asked whether Turner, the show's star, can keep up with her, he laughed. "I don't think anybody can keep up with her."
On Thursday, the pair got their first date alone together. They rode ATVs in the desert, traded intimacies on a bench and exchanged kisses in a hot tub.
"I think she's giving me a piece of herself," Turner said.
During an earlier episode, Turner asked her what she says to men who call her "a really sexy woman," adding: "It's a state of mind for you almost, isn't it?"
"It is," she said. "But also I am very sensitive, and I like to speak from my heart."
The two discussed how she has a "soft, gooey inside," as Turner put it, with Fhima comparing herself to a lava cake. "You've really clarified some things for me," he said. "You really have."
Then Fhima offered another clarification: "If you ever want to whisper sweet nothings in my ear," she said, pulling her hair aside to reveal two hearing aids, "I will be able to hear you."
Turner leaned in, whispering something in Fhima's ear.
"What did he say?" a producer later asked Fhima.
"We're not going to say," she said, smiling wide, her dimples deep. "That's for me to know."
One host of the podcast "Game of Roses," which treats these shows as a competitive sport, gave Fhima's double hearing aid reveal her "play of the game," a high honor.
Turner called it "darling."
