Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner’s romance turned from a fairytale into a cautionary tale pretty quickly. The septuagenarians who met on the set of The Golden Bachelor season 1 were married and divorced, all within a year of meeting each other. Turner has since moved on, and it seems Nist has done the same. Still, she insists the whirlwind nature of her romance with Turner wasn’t 100% by choice. The New Jersey native recently revealed that the televised wedding was a “now or never” type of offer.

Theresa Nist reveals why she rushed down the aisle

Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner walked down the aisle in a televised event just a few weeks after fans watched the duo get engaged at the end of The Golden Bachelor season 1. In real-time, the pair made things official in August 2023 after meeting in June 2023 on the set of the iconic dating show. Their wedding, held just five months later, seemed romantic. It wasn’t 100% what it appeared to be, though.

Nist recently sat down to chat with Us Weekly. She revealed that ABC’s offer to televise (and pay) for the wedding partly influenced the decision to marry so quickly. Nist told the publication that when the network approached them with the offer, it had an expiration date on it. She said it wasn’t something they could do in six months or a year. Instead, the wedding needed to happen quickly. Surely, there was some pressure to take the chance while it was there. She said she and Turner figured “why not” since they planned to wed regardless. They were motivated by the opportunity to have a spectacular, dream wedding.

Nist contends that she would have been better off waiting. While Nist insists she wanted to marry Turner at that moment, the implication is that the marriage probably would have never occurred had they spent more time together in the real world before tying the knot. We agree. If they had spent a few more months engaged, they likely would have realized just how incompatible they were before tying the knot.

When did Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist break up?

Millions watched Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist’s January 4, 2024, wedding. While viewers assumed the pair would walk off into their retirement years together, that was not to be the case. In April 2024, the pair announced their plans to divorce. They shared the news on Good Morning America on April 12. The following day, Turner officially filed for divorce. He cited irreconcilable differences in official paperwork. The pair suggested their inability to agree on a home base influenced the decision. Nist has hinted at a darker cause for the split.

Their marriage lasted just 100 days before Turner filed to dissolve the union. The divorce was finalized in early June 2024. Nist remained in her New Jersey home, while Turner continued to spend time in Indiana. Despite being legally wed, the duo never resided in the same state.