Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner is opening up about why he went through with his wedding to Theresa Nist, despite having ‘some doubts’ before walking down the aisle.
As he promoted his new book this week, the 74-year-old TV star — who is now engaged again — explained why he didn’t call off the highly anticipated nuptials.Â
‘I would say it more falls into the category of cold feet. I think it’s normal to have doubts towards the end and towards that moment when the commitment is engaged,’ he said.
‘So, yeah, I had some doubts, but those doubts didn’t extend to the level of saying I want to call it off,’ he told E! News.
Gerry and Theresa met on the first season of The Golden Bachelor, which premiered in August 2023, and they married in January 2024.
A ‘lack of intimacy’ led to their divorce just three months later.
Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner is opening up about why he went through with his wedding to Theresa Nist, despite having ‘some doubts’ before walking down the aisle
As he promoted his new book this week, the 74-year-old TV star explained why he didn’t call off the highly-anticipated nuptials; pictured at their January 2024 wedding
‘So, yeah, I had some doubts, but those doubts didn’t extend to the level of saying I want to call it off,’ he told E! News
Gerry and Theresa, 72, hoped to find a second chance at love on ABC’s Bachelor spinoff after they were both widowed by their longtime spouses.Â
Part of their compatibility was due to being ‘very accustomed to living up to commitment’ and Gerry believed their vows ‘meant something.’Â
‘Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I would have seen those red flags at the time,’ he reflected.
The reality television personality added, ‘When we said we were going forward with it, we felt like, “OK, we’re going to find a way to make it happen. We’re going to get to know each other deeply and find all the things we need to do to make it work.”
‘And the reality was, it didn’t happen, but the effort was there.’
In Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss, and Reality TV, the father-of-two details what went wrong in the 12-week marriage that ended in divorce.
He wrote that the intimacy between him and his new wife plummeted shortly after they said ‘I do.’
‘My first night at her house, she took out sheets and pillows before telling me, “Tomorrow’s a big workday. I need a good night’s sleep. Do you mind sleeping on the sofa?”‘ the author penned, per an excerpt published by Entertainment Weekly.
In Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss, and Reality TV, the father-of-two details what went wrong in the 12-week marriage that ended in divorce
Gerry is now engaged to Lana Sutton; he shared the news on social media in early October
Gerry initially said the sleeping arrangement was ‘no problem,’ but he wondered why his new wife was being distant.
This happened during his first visit to Theresa’s New Jersey home and on the heels of their whirlwind wedding.
He noted that he didn’t want to make Theresa feel uncomfortable if she ‘wanted to take things slowly or was having mixed feelings.’
Weeks later, according to Gerry, nothing had changed. And the couple never discussed the sleeping setup.
In response to his account of how things unfolded, Theresa said, ‘Nothing he has said about me or how our conversations went is accurate or happened in the way he is describing it.’
During an appearance on She’s All Bach podcast, she added, ‘I’m not sure if Gerry has a bad memory or if he just thought it would sound more dramatic with how he revised it.
‘It makes me really sad to know how empty and trapped he felt prior to our wedding. I wish he had just been honest with me. I really believed he loved me but clearly he had me fooled. His behavior behind closed doors makes a lot more sense now.’
