Gerri Flowers is feeling festive . Not only because her birthday was on Sept. 30 — “I’m celebrating the whole month,” she says of the balloons behind her on Zoom — but because she’s still reveling in the experience that was The Golden Bachelor .

Though Gerri was sent home during the show’s Oct. 8 episode , she was still touched to receive Mel Owens’ first impression rose on Night 1. And of course, she cultivated relationships with her castmates, too: Living in the mansion, she says, was like the sorority experience she never got to have.

“[Our room] was the party room,” the 65-year-old health care CEO and mom of three tells Bustle, recalling delightfully hectic getting-ready scenes. “We’d have one in the shower, one on the toilet, one brushing her teeth, and one putting makeup on.

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