While reality TV divorces are unfortunately a dime a dozen (I’m more surprised when a couple actually stays together), The Golden Bachelor viewers desperately wanted Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner to work out.
While fans had plenty to say about the couple divorcing after only being married for three months, Theresa has also opened up about her love life. She wrote about her divorce on Instagram in April 2024, and her words proved how much she believed in her Golden Bachelor love story. She wrote, “It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, something I never expected to happen at this point in my life and I truly thought it was going to last forever.” It’s hard not to feel devastated on her behalf.
Although realizing that things weren’t going to work out was no doubt painful for Theresa, she has found some moments of peace. She posted on Instagram in April that “Gardening has been a constant source of joy in my life.” In recent months, she has shared how much she loves spending time at the beach and doing yoga, and she also announced that she will become a grandmother for the seventh time.
So, why did the golden couple break up? Things seemed so promising between them… but it seems that they couldn’t agree on where to live. According to TMZ, it’s possible that since Theresa works as a compliance officer, she didn’t want to move somewhere else and quit her job. Golden Bachelor fans think there could be more to the story, and wonder if Theresa realized that many things don’t add up about Gerry’s background. Gerry said on the ABC reality series (and in the aforementioned Esquire interview) that he took a break from dating when he lost his wife. He even said it had been six years since his last kiss. But, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he had a few different partners, and even led one woman to think he was serious about her. It’s more than a little frustrating to read these accounts.
It’s even more upsetting to hear Theresa talk about her approach to dating after her husband died. In Jan. 2024, she and Gerry were interviewed by Esquire and spoke about their shared experience of losing their spouses. Theresa told herself, “I’ll never be in love again or in a relationship again. I’m done.” After 18 months passed, she felt ready to go on a dinner date, but when her daughter signed her up for Match.com, “nothing really came of it.”
I can’t be the only one with creepy and awkward online dating stories who finds it awful to picture sweet Theresa using Match.com. But it’s even more terrible to think that Theresa thought she wouldn’t find love again after her husband died… and then Gerry tore her heart into a million pieces. It can be scary to put yourself “out there,” as people say, no matter what your age or circumstances are, and becoming a contestant on a popular dating show is no small feat, either. It was brave of Theresa to move past her uncertainty about entering the dating world again in such a public way.
I hope Theresa finds love soon, if that’s still what she wants, and that she can forget all about Gerry!