Golden Bachelor’s Theresa Nist, who split from the show’s inaugural lead Gerry Turner in April after just three months of marriage, has shared new details about why their romance couldn’t last. The 71-year-old former reality star revealed in a recent episode of the Almost Famous podcast that their June divorce wasn’t solely due to the distance between their homes.
“It’s not just the location thing,” Theresa confessed. “You really can’t know someone in four weeks. I’ll just say that. That’s all I can say. I don’t want to say any more than that.” When pressed on whether she was referring to the four weeks of filming for the Golden Bachelor or the time after cameras stopped rolling, Theresa made it clear that the issues arose in the latter period, as she and Gerry “got to know each other better” following their on-camera engagement.
In fact, Theresa recalled her young grandson Henry questioning the quick timeline, telling her just before her televised January wedding, “‘I just thought of this; you had one date, and you’re getting married!‘”
The former contestant emphasized that she and Gerry, 72, had entered their marriage with genuine intentions. However, she acknowledged that the network’s offer of a free wedding ceremony greatly encouraged their swift transition from engagement to nuptials.
“We said, ‘Okay, they’re offering this to us now.’ Not later—it was now. We decided that if we truly wanted to get married, we should go ahead and plan the wedding of our dreams. Given our advanced age, there’s no reason to delay our decision. Do it now.’“
While Theresa described the wedding, which included several Bachelor Nation alums, as “gorgeous,” the cracks in her and Gerry’s relationship quickly became apparent. The distance between their homes in New Jersey and Indiana was certainly a factor, as Gerry had wanted to split their time between the two locations rather than settle solely in Theresa’s preferred Charleston, South Carolina.
“I didn’t want to go back and forth,” Theresa recalled. “I wanted to have an established base with a beautiful home together with Gerry and then go visit our children.” However, Theresa emphasized that the spark in their romance went out when Gerry proposed a new idea for their forever home that differed from their initial plans.
“It wasn’t what we had discussed,” she added. “It did change.” Despite their differences, Theresa respected Gerry’s attachment to his Indiana home, acknowledging, “He loves his house, and I don’t blame him.“
Fans of Bachelor Nation are well aware that Theresa and Gerry are not the only couple from the franchise to end their relationship after the final rose ceremony. From Victoria Fuller and Greg Grippo to Johnny DePhillipo and Victoria Fuller, many relationships have crumbled under the pressure of life after the cameras stop rolling.
For Theresa and Gerry, their divorce serves as a cautionary tale about the challenges of falling in love on television and the importance of truly knowing your partner before leaping into marriage.