The Golden Bachelor‘s Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist are going their separate ways after just three months of marriage.
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The pair met and fell in love on Turner’s inaugural season of ABC’s The Golden Bachelor and said “I do” in a televised ceremony on Jan 4, 2024. Breakup rumors began swirling in early April when reports surfaced that Turner and Nist were still living separately. After tying the knot, Turner remained in Indiana, while Nist continued living in New Jersey. The couple stepped out together at the Hulu on Disney+ celebration in Los Angeles on April 5, seemingly squashing the speculation. They were all smiles as they walked the red carpet and posed for pictures with one another.
Just one week later, however, they confirmed their split in an interview on Good Morning America, leaving fans to wonder what went wrong. Keep reading to see why Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist are divorcing.
Why are The Golden Bachelor‘s Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist divorcing?
On April 12, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist announced their divorce during a sit down interview onGood Morning America.”Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth and — and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to — dissolve our marriage,” Turner told ABC’s Juju Chang.
The couple revealed that their living situations were a big part of their decision to split just three months after their wedding. “The thing that strikes me the most in our conversations, it’s been how dedicated both of us are to our families,” Turrner said. “So we look at these situations and I think we just feel like it’s best for the happiness of each of us to, to live apart.” Nist added: “We looked at homes in South Carolina, we considered New Jersey, and we just looked at homes after home, but we never got to the point where we made that decision.”
The relationship was a second shot at love for both Turner and Nist, who were previously married to their high school sweethearts. Turner’s late wife Toni passed away in 2017 after 43 years of marriage, while Theresa’s husband of 42 years, Billy, died in 2014. Plenty of fans watched them fall in love and were inspired by their story — and Nist doesn’t want their divorce to take away from that.
“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,” she said. “We want none of that to change for anybody.” While holding hands, the couple revealed that they still love each other. “I still love this person,” Turner said, adding: “There’s no doubt in my mind, I still am in love with her. I root for her every day.” Nist agreed: “Yeah, I still love him.”Nist also claimed that they were 100 percent committed to making their relationship work, noting, “That was the plan.”
While Turner’s season was still airing, The Hollywood Reporter published an exposé on the 72-year-old, in which an alleged secret girlfriend claimed that Turner misrepresented his romanic history on the show. The woman, simply named as Carolyn, alleged that she and Turner began dating several months after his wife’s death, despite Turner claiming on the show that he had not been in a serious relationship since Toni’s passing. She also alleged that they moved in together and that their relationship ended because of negative comments Turner made about her weight and appearance.
Turner addressed the claims in an interview with The New York Times, telling the outlet at the time: “I guess I haven’t really looked at it as how accurate it is … I’ve more looked at it in terms of timing, and how it really doesn’t fit with all of the positive things that are going on in my life right now.”
During his and Nist’s interview on GMA, Nist said that the article had nothing to do with their split. “Gerry had already discussed that with me, he explained it to me before the report was ever released,” she said. “So we were good with that, that didn’t play into it.”
They ended the interview with a message for other people looking to find love later in life. “We say don’t give up,” Nist said. “We say stay in it, stay hopeful, because we are.” When asked by Chang if they were going to keep looking for love, both Turner and Nist said yes. Chang later noted that there was a prenuptial agreement in place.
Check out this gallery on your favorite primetime stars’ real-life partners.
