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Theresa Nist Felt She ‘Had to Go Through’ With Wedding to Gerry Turner: ‘Whole World Was Watching’
The Golden Bachelor‘s Theresa Nist had reservations about marrying Gerry Turner, especially after his lie about a past relationship, Life & Style has learned exclusively.
“In a way Theresa felt like she had to go through with the wedding because the whole world was watching, and she was hopeful, she thought she could get past that initial [past relationship] lie,” a source reveals.
Gerry, 72, famously claimed he hadn’t been in a relationship since his wife Toni’s death in 2017 and hadn’t dated in 45 years, the length of his marriage to his high school sweetheart. He also repeatedly said on the show that he hadn’t kissed another woman since Toni died. However, on the eve of The Golden Bachelor finale airing in November 2023, one of his exes came forward and dished about their relationship in exposé by The Hollywood Reporter.
“Theresa feels like she was duped and so do the other women that fell in love with Gerry,” the insider says of the man she married on January 4 in a televised ceremony on ABC.
Gerry’s unidentified ex – who went by the name Carolyn – claimed she started dating the reality star one month after Toni’s passing. She alleged that the pair had an off-on relationship for three years, eventually moving in together. Carolyn said she was “flabbergasted” to hear Gerry tell his Golden Bachelor contestants about his lack of a love life after becoming a widow.
“The idea that I’d go out with a recent widower just mortifies me,” Carolyn said. “I just really didn’t see it. Until I went back and looked at my text messages, I never realized Gerry’s texts had turned hot and heavy so relatively soon.”
Carolyn noted she was bothered by the fact that Gerry seemed to use lines on his contestants that were similar to ones he used with her. He told contestant Leslie Fhima during their fantasy suite date, “I have to have you with my morning coffee, I have to have you when I go to bed at night…”
“Damn, I go to bed at night thinking of you and wake up in the morning thinking of you,” the ABC personality texted Carolyn in September 2017, according to a message viewed by THR.
By the time the scandal broke, Gerry and Theresa, 70, had already become engaged. He spoke out about the dating scandal in November 2023, telling the Los Angeles Times, “My only response is that I have so many positive things in my life right now. I have the wonderful love of Theresa, my partner. I don’t have time to reflect on comments like this.”
Gerry and Theresa shocked fans when they announced during an April 12 appearance on Good Morning America that they were divorcing after three months of marriage.
“We’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Gerry told host Juju Chang.
Ultimately the pair couldn’t come to an agreement on where to live, as Gerry wanted to remain at his Indiana lake house while Theresa continued to live at her longtime New Jersey home.
“The thing that strikes me the most and in our conversations, it’s been how dedicated both of us are to our families,” Gerry continued. “So we look at these situations and I think we just feel like it’s best for the happiness of each of us to live apart.”
