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Theresa Nist opened up about her split with Gerry Turner just three months after their televised wedding. The Golden Bachelor leads announced their split on Friday, April 12, 2024, in an interview with Good Morning America.
Nist uploaded a quote by Dr. Seuss on her Instagram on Monday, which read,
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
She explained in the lengthy caption that she understood some people might be "confused and angry," and added:
"Sometimes things don’t go the way you planned and that’s okay. I take so many positives away from this experience..."
The couple met on the sets of ABC's dating reality show, The Golden Bachelor. The show is a spin-off of The Bachelor, featuring a cast of senior citizens as the contestants and a single man.
The show premiered in September 2023, with 72-year-old Gerry chosen as the first-ever golden bachelor. Nist accepted his final rose, and the two tied the knot in a special wedding televised on January 4, 2024.
Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner connected early on the show over marrying their high school sweethearts, who died after illness
Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner connected early on the show over marrying their high school sweethearts that they lost to an illness. Their wedding was aired earlier this year in a special episode titled The Golden Wedding. Per Programming Insider, over 5.21 million viewers watched the episode.
Just three months after their wedding on April 12, the soon-to-be-divorced couple sat down with ABC News to announce their separation. Citing an inability to determine where to live as the reason, Turner stated:
"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."
70-year-old Theresa Nist hails from New Jersey, while Turner lives in Indiana. He submitted a petition for “dissolution of marriage” to Pike Circuit Court in Indiana on the same day. Per a US Weekly report, he marked "irretrievable breakdown" as the reason.
Days after the The Golden Bachelor finale on November 30, 2023, Turner told PEOPLE magazine that they planned to move to Charleston, South Carolina, post their marriage. However, by the time of their wedding, Turner began considering relocating to New Jersey. He told ABC News:
"I like that area, and Theresa's home is 15 minutes from the ocean, and that is so attractive to me. So we have more than one option to explore. We'll find the spot that we're both happy with."
In her IG post, Theresa Nist, a financial services professional, elaborated that she "truly thought it was going to last forever." She argued that even at the age of 70, people "don't know everything" and that sometimes things don't go the way they were planned.
However, Theresa Nist wrote that she chose to take positives from the experience on The Golden Bachelor, including the friends she made with the production crew and her relationship with Gerry Turner's two daughters and two granddaughters. Concluding her statement, the 70-year-old wrote:
"I ask you to please stay open to all the experiences, opportunities, and love that may come your way. Keep smiling, keep laughing... I will. I love you all."
On Saturday, April 13, PEOPLE published a report showing Theresa Nist leaving her New Jersey home wearing her wedding ring. In her Good Morning America interview, Nist stated she planned to return the ring and the Badgley Mischka wedding dress she wore.
