Many were touched by the 72-year-old Indiana native’s quest for love. But his story ended with the disappointing announcement of his split from wife Theresa Nist following THR’s report on his past.
The first-ever Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner and his wife Theresa Nist announced on Good Morning America that they have mutually decided to “dissolve our marriage.” This many years into the storied ABC franchise, not much will surprise Bachelor Nation (the term for the reality dating show’s devoted audience). But news of a Golden Bachelor divorce coming only three months after their televised Jan. 4 Golden Wedding gave the beloved senior couple a new “history-making” title: the fastest-ever Bachelor franchise divorce.
Their union lasted only 100 days, the shortest-ever marriage across more than 20 years of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and its many spinoffs, including Bachelor in Paradise. So, what led to the septuagenarians who reinvigorated both franchise ratings and overall sentiment around the dating franchise calling it off?
During their GMA sit-down, anchor Juju Chang asked if reports about Turner’s past led to their split. (On the day before the Nov. 30 finale, The Hollywood Reporter‘s exposé on Turner revealed he hadn’t been truthful about his romantic or professional past.) “No, not for me,” said Nist. “Gerry had already discussed that with me, he explained that to me before the report was ever released so we were good with that.”
Below, THR takes a look back at how Turner’s senior spinoff bloomed to become the franchise golden child — only to wilt in the end.
Golden Bachelor Had Been in the Works for Years
In February 2020, it was first announced during a The Bachelor commercial break that the franchise was casting “seniors looking for love.”
At the time, the title hadn’t been set, but an ABC casting page offered further details: “Are you entering your golden years and looking for romance? The Producers of The Bachelor are looking for active and outgoing single men and women in their golden years for a new exciting dating show.”
Over three years later in May 2023, The Golden Bachelor was officially greenlit by the network. Shortly afterwards, then-71-year-old Indiana native Turner was revealed as the first-ever Golden Bachelor.
The Show Finally Became a Reality Because They Found the Seemingly Perfect Lead
When speaking with THR back in November 2023, the Golden Bachelor executive producers revealed that the senior spinoff had actually been talked about for nearly a decade, but began casting in 2019, and eventually returned to the process in 2022 following a pandemic pause. “Once we saw that tape with Gerry, it was really hard to beat him,” said Jason Elrich about Turner, who submitted himself for the show, with his daughters’ support, years after the death of his first wife. “Gerry is amazing. He’s an unbelievable find. But it was the marriage of Gerry and these incredible women who we saw in casting that really gave life to the show.”
Claire Freeland added that Turner fit all the categories they were looking for: “It’s very easy to say yes to Gerry. He’s so deserving, too. He’s like America’s dad.”
The Show Is a Hit Out of the Gate, Reinvigorating the Franchise
When the Bachelor offshoot premiered on Sept. 28, it hit 7.7 million viewers amid the first three days of cross-platforming viewing, reaching 9 million views a week after it aired.
The series kept drawing in audiences eager to see Turner find love again, with the season finale reaching 6.95 million linear viewers. It was the biggest viewership the franchise had seen since March 2020, during the finale of Peter Weber’s stint on The Bachelor.
The Senior Show Reclaimed the Franchise’s Once-Wholesome Image by Inspiring Love at Any Age
Unlike drama-filled recent seasons of The Bachelor, The Golden Bachelor made viewers believe that its contestants were genuinely searching for a new chance at romance, as 25 senior women — many whom, like Turner, were widows themselves — competed for a chance to win his heart.
During a Golden Bachelor preview shown during season 20 of The Bachelorette Charity Lawson’s Men Tell All reunion special, Turner talked about how much it meant to have the opportunity to find love again and how different it feels in his 70s versus meeting his first wife, Toni, in high school.
“What I look for at the age of 70 is different from what I looked for in high school and college,” he explained. “So, I believe I’ll find my person — the new person that will make me whole again. And I think we’ll knit a wonderful relationship. But I don’t think it’ll look like the relationship I had with Toni. And I don’t think it would be right to do it that way.”
