Summary
- Real romance isn’t a reality show — the septuagenarian stars of
The Golden Bachelor
have gotten divorced three months after their TV wedding. - Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist split, unable to bridge a long-distance relationship. She lives in New Jersey, he lives in Indiana.
- The couple still preach hope and love. It’s a cautionary tale for
The Golden Bachelorette
, coming to ABC this Fall.
Real romance will not be televised. That hasn’t stopped people from watching strangers meet on television and get married in an often humiliating and strange process, where one man or woman dates 25 people at the same time. It’s been over 22 years since The Bachelor debuted on March 25, 2002, with The Bachelorette premiering January 8, 2003. In that time, there have been nearly 50 TV weddings. The latest installment in the franchise, The Golden Bachelor, aired last year and redesigned the show with septuagenarian participants. Sadly, even the wisdom gained from age didn’t prevent the marriage from ending in divorce.
That’s right, the Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner and his bride Theresa Nist have divorced. They join past divorced winners such as Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum, Krystal Nielson and Chris Randone, Marcus Grodd and Lacy Faddoul, Evan Bass and Carly Waddell, DeAnna Pappas and Stephen Stagliano, Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo, and more. The couple were married in January 2024 and are getting divorced three months later. It gave them the opportunity to come back on TV and talk all about it to Good Morning America.
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“We have received so much love and support from so many people who watched The Golden Bachelor, and I don’t think we can tell you how many people told us that it gave them so much hope,” said Nist. “We want none of that to change for anybody.” Turner explained:
Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations. And we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve and get a divorce.
“I promise to be your calm in the storm, to comfort you when you’re sad, to laugh with you when you’re happy, to stick with you throughout it all,” said Nist in her televised marriage vows. “We have a trust that cannot be broken,” said Turner at the time. They signed a pre-nup and divorce proceedings are imminent.
Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist Live in Different States
ABC
Apparently, Turner (73) and Nist (70) never technically lived together after their marriage. She resides in New Jersey and he lives in a lake house in Indiana. The pair were supposedly looking at a house together in South Carolina and even New Jersey, but it’s hard to give up that Indiana lake house and harder still to have a long-distance marriage. They also described how dedicated they are to their respective families. “I think we just feel like it’s best for the happiness of each of us to live apart,” explained Turner.
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Good Morning America interviewer Juju Chang asked the pair, “So many people who have given up on love later in life were inspired by you. What do you say to them now, especially the cynical ones who might say, ‘I knew this would happen?'”
“We say don’t give up,” replied Nist without much self-awareness. “We say, ‘Stay in it, stay hopeful.'” There is no word yet on if their divorce proceedings will be televised, but The Golden Bachelorette is coming this Fall on ABC.
