Theresa Nist Reflects on 'Golden Bachelor' as a 'Wonderful Experience' Even After Split from Gerry Turner

While acknowledging her 71st birthday in an Instagram post, Theresa Nist reflected about her time on The Golden Bachelor. Although the New Jersey resident divorced Gerry Turner after the show, she had nothing but fond things to say about her experience.

Theresa, 71, revealed that she began filming the ABC dating show exactly one year earlier on her big day. “My life has never been the same,” she added. “I am so grateful for the experience and for everything that happened to me. I’ve met so many wonderful people and I’ve made so many new friends, especially with the wonderful women on the show who went through this journey with me, friendships that I cherish and I know will last the rest of our lives.”

She said she’s “grown in so many ways” from being on the show and continued, “I truly believe that everything that happens to us in life happens for a reason and that you learn and grow from every experience and that it’s ultimately all good. I feel so blessed to have gone through it all. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life.”

Theresa concluded her message by thanking fans and friends for all of the kind messages she’d received over the past several months. “The best part of all of this has been the fact that we have all, sometimes unexpectedly, but beautifully, touched each other’s lives.”

Gerry, 73, proposed to Theresa during The Golden Bachelor finale, which aired in November 2023. They tied the knot just weeks later in January. However, by April, the pair announced that they were dissolving their marriage. Their divorce was finalized in June.

With Gerry being from Indiana and Theresa living in New Jersey, the reality stars explained that they were not able to agree on where to live once they became a married couple. Theresa’s dedication to her work also reportedly played a part in the split, according to fellow Golden Bachelor contestant Susan Noles, who officiated Gerry and Theresa’s wedding.

“Theresa decided not to move and not to quit her job,” Susan, 67, said on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show with Julia Cunningham in May. “He got frustrated. Who can blame him? I mean, I would’ve never said I would move to that place wherever that is in the middle of nowhere.”

The compliance officer hinted in March that her work was taking a toll on her relationship. “I still work, so that’s the hurdle,” she said on the “Dear Shandy” podcast. “I honestly thought, ‘Oh, let me just get through the first night [of Golden Bachelor].’ And I stayed and I stayed, and my employer was so good to me. And before I left, I kind of said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you.’”

Although Gerry and Theresa’s love story has ended, another one is just beginning on season 1 of The Golden Bachelorette. Joan Vassos, who was on Gerry’s season and left the show early for a family obligation, was cast as the lead of the show and began filming in June. The show premieres on September 18.