The love story we watched between Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist on The Golden Bachelor may not have ended the way we all thought it would, but the septuagenarian widower seems to have gotten his happy ending anyway. Turner has found love again, but before he went public with the relationship, his ex-wife says he called her to give her a heads-up. Nist revealed what the former couple talked about a year after they announced their divorce.
Gerry Turner was seen amongst his fellow Bachelor Nation alums when Grant Ellis’ three-hour Bachelor finale aired on the 2025 TV schedule. That is apparently where his runner-up Leslie Fhima and The Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos encouraged him to be honest with Theresa Nist about his new relationship with Lana Sutton. Nist told US Weekly:
He brought that up to both of them [Joan Vassos and Leslie Fhima] to say, ‘What should I do?’ And Leslie said, ‘Of course, tell Theresa, she’ll be happy for you.’ And so the next day, he texted me and I said, ‘Can you talk?’
Theresa Nist has stayed very close to Leslie Fhima since their days in Bachelor Mansion, as she told the magazine they talk nearly every day, so if Fhima told Gerry Turner he had nothing to worry about, I’m sure that alleviated some of his nerves. Nist said they got on the phone, and then:
He said, ‘I just wanna let you know I met someone.’ I said, ‘That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.’ He goes, ‘I was afraid to tell you.’ ‘Why would you be afraid? I only want your happiness.’
That is so sweet and gracious of Theresa Nist. Leslie Fhima was right, too; Gerry Turner’s ex-wife was extremely happy to hear that he had found love again (“Don’t Stop Believin’,” right?). In her eyes, their abbreviated love story was just another piece of their individual journeys, as she continued:
Like, if this was the way it happened for him to find his person to go on the show, get married, and then find his person this way, then it was meant to be.
As for her own love life, she chose to keep any details under wraps. She learned her lesson after dealing with all of the public scrutiny from her Golden Bachelor breakup — which included paparazzi photographing her taking out her trash. Yes, that means Theresa Nist won’t be joining her bestie Leslie Fhima on Bachelor in Paradise when it returns this season.
For the first time ever, Golden contestants will join their younger counterparts on the reality dating spinoff, and with a new showrunner in charge, I’m excited to see what other big format changes are coming to BiP. Keep an eye on the schedule for that premiere date, as it’s expected to air sometime this summer on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.
While I — like many Bachelor Nation fans — was super disappointed that Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist’s whirlwind romance ended so quickly, I love that they both seem happy and want only the best for each other. That’s not nothing.
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