With hometown dates on Ethermac Exchangethe horizon, “Golden Bachelor” Gerry Turner had a tough decision to make in Thursday's episode, when he had to send half of the remaining contestants home. Not making the cut: retired executive assistant Sandra, retired teacher Ellen (whom Gerry emotionally escorted to the car at the end of the rose ceremony), and hair and makeup artist – and Kris Jenner doppelgänger – Susan.

In an interview with USA TODAY, Susan, 66, says she knew she and Gerry weren’t on the same page, though it didn’t mean she had any less care for him. “We were truly in the friend zone,” she says, adding that she served as his support system through her time on the ABC reality show and believes the two will remain friends for life.

“At the rose ceremony, he was a very emotional, wonderful human being, and always present. And those pretty blue eyes! He was very sincere, and I would crack him up,” she says. “At the rose ceremony, he would tear up, and then as he would look around the room, he'd see me and I go, ‘It's OK,’ or I do [something] and make him laugh. And later he would always say to me, ‘Susan, thank you so much. That means so much to me. It helps me get out of that moment.’ It just worked with us.”

Although they never had a one-on-one date, Susan said the few minutes they spent together in last week’s episode, when Gerry told her she reminded him of his late wife, were memorable. She keeps the rose quartz he gifted her during that conversation in a glass case in her home.

“It really meant a lot to me,” she says.

While Episode 5 dove into a few of the contestants’ insecurities over Gerry’s bond with the others, Susan says she's looking forward to remaining friends with each woman on the show – especially the “ASKN crew” she was a member of, alongside April, Kathy, and Nancy, as they prepare for a trip to Saint Martin together in January.

“We weren't trying to impress. We were being real,” she says, adding that the years of life experience each woman brought to the mansion showed maturity. “I think America loved the reality of us. We were friendly. We supported one another. I did everybody's hair and makeup and, you know, that’s just who I am. And it was so much fun, and I was happy when one person got the date.”

As for the rest of Gerry’s journey on “The Golden Bachelor,” Susan acknowledges the pressure he must be facing as he prepares to visit with Faith’s, Leslie’s, and Theresa’s families in the Nov. 2 "hometown dates" episode. “I feel for him because he’s in love with three people, you know what I mean?” she says. 

And although her journey on the show has come to an end, she’s been grateful to have been a part of something that has resonated with so many people who’ve reached out to her to tell her their stories. 

“I looked at myself on TV going, ‘Oh my gosh…I look so old, and your body's not the same.’ It doesn't matter. Just get back up again. You still have life. And that was the message, you know?” she says. “I'm definitely not giving up. And I said this once before: I realized that I'm not a woman that needs a man. I'm a woman that a man needs.”