‘Golden Bachelor’ reality TV love story ends in divorce
LOS ANGELES—The “Golden Bachelor” reality TV couple, who wed on national television after a romance that captivated viewers with the possibility of finding love late in life, announced on Friday they are divorcing just three months into their marriage.
Gerry Turner, 72, and Theresa Nist, 70, revealed the news on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Turner said they each wanted to be near their families and could not agree on a place to live. Turner resides in Indiana and Nist in New Jersey.
‘Hopes and challenges’
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation,” Turner said. “We’ve come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage.”Turner, whose first wife died in 2017, starred in the inaugural season of “The Golden Bachelor,” a dating competition for people over 60. He and the 22 female contestants aged 60 to 75 frequently talked about the hopes and challenges, of dating as an older person.
“We have received so much love and support from so many people who watched ‘The Golden Bachelor,’” Nist said on “Good Morning America.” “I don’t think we can tell you how many people told us it gave them so much hope. We want none of that to change.”
The series on Walt Disney’s ABC network reinvigorated “The Bachelor” franchise, drawing nearly 7 million viewers to the season finale in which Turner proposed to Nist in Costa Rica. The audience was the highest for any “Bachelor” episode since 2020.
The couple tied the knot in a ceremony broadcast live on ABC in January.
ABC plans to continue the series with “The Golden Bachelorette” in the fall. —Reuters
