Gold doesn’t typically rust, but the shine of the inaugural Golden Bachelor couple’s marriage has eroded after only three months. On Friday’s episode of Good Morning America, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist, who wed in front of live ABC cameras on January 4 after getting engaged on the show, announced they are divorcing.
Wearing matching white outfits, Turner and Nist held hands as they declared their split, which marks the shortest marriage in Bachelor franchise history. “Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth, and we’ve come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” said Turner.
Added Nist, “We have received so much love and support from so many people who watched The Golden Bachelor, and I don’t think we can tell you how many people told us that it gave them so much hope. We want none of that to change for anybody. Don’t give up. Stay in it. Stay hopeful. ‘Cause we are.”
Distance played a major role in their decision. Turner lives in Indiana, while Nist is based out of New Jersey. They had plans to plant roots in New Jersey or South Carolina, but as Nist explained, “We looked at home after home, but we never got to the point where we made that decision.”
When Turner and Nist met on The Golden Bachelor, both of them had lost their lifelong spouses and were parents to two children each. “The thing that strikes me the most in our conversations, it’s been how dedicated both of us are to our families,” Turner said on GMA. “So we look at these conversations and we both think it’s best for the happiness of each of us to live apart.”
During their interview, the couple denied that a Hollywood Reporter piece unearthing Gerry’s “not-so-golden past,” including an allegedly messy long-term romance with a woman after his wife died, were a factor in their marital issues. “I still love this person. There’s no doubt in my mind, I still am in love with her. I root for her every day,” Turner said, pointing to Nist—who replied, “I still love him.”
In recent weeks, the once-golden pair had been active in Bachelor Nation. After being spotted Joey Graziadei’s live Bachelor finale, they filmed an episode of Celebrity Family Feud that has yet to air, and spoke about their relationship on the Dear Shandy podcast. When asked by the hosts how their beliefs about love had changed with age, Turner got candid: “I had a belief that at an older age that falling into a relationship like this would be easier,” he began, adding, “You still have to do all the work to build a relationship and, in a way, with us that was made a little more difficult because we got married and then we started the process of knowing each other, which is backwards of what 99.9% of the people in the world do. And it’s been good, but it’s not a cakewalk.”
It remains to be seen whether the split will sour viewers on the spinoff as a whole. A season of The Golden Bachelorette is on the way, but the show’s inaugural lead has yet to be named.