‘The Golden Bachelor’ couple appeared on the relationship advice podcast ‘Dear Shandy’ three weeks before filing for divorce
Three weeks before their surprising split, The Golden Bachelor’s Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist detailed what goes down when they butt heads — from conflict to resolution.
During a guest appearance on the dating advice podcast Dear Shandy, Turner, 72, and Nist, 70, revealed that they are both stubborn fighters.
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“I would say it’s more intellectual jousting to start with,” Turner shared. “Point, counterpoint, and then it’ll accelerate a little bit and we’ll start looking at each other like, ‘Really? I’m totally right.’”
When it came to apologies, the retired restaurateur said Nist was better at looking past the unimportant disagreements and saying, “Sorry, let’s move on.”
Turner explained that his prior experience as a divorce claims mediator ended up being “counterproductive with a partner, with a spouse” because he would try to remain unemotional and detached.
“I’m very much the emotional guy, so I have a little internal conflict there,” he added.
After only three months of marriage, their disagreements over long distance became too much to overcome.
During an interview aired on Good Morning America, Turner and Nist announced that they were filing for divorce. According to public records viewed by PEOPLE, Turner submitted a petition to Pike Circuit Court in Indiana on April 12 to end his marriage with Nist.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation and so forth, and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Turner told ABC News’ Juju Chang.
Asked what led to their split, the former couple confessed that the inability to cohabitate caused a rift. Since their live, televised wedding in January, Turner continued to live in his Indiana lake house while Nist stayed in New Jersey. Though Turner considered a move and they looked into homes in South Carolina, they “never got to the point” of finalizing a decision, according to Nist.
Despite their divorce, the pair admitted they still love each other and are “best friends” who plan to stay in each other’s lives. “I root for her everyday,” Turner said of Nist.
