The Golden Bachelor‘s Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist may be divorced IRL, but if you wish the two seniors were still hitched you can pretend for a night with some help from Celebrity Family Feud.
On April 12, the Golden Bachelor couple announced plans to divorce just three months after they tied the knot in a live Golden Wedding special on ABC. On April 7, a mere five days before that divorce announcement, however, the Turner and Nist families also shared photos to social media of them filming an episode of Celebrity Family Feud.
Now, a month after the Golden Bachelor stars officially finalized their divorce, their Celebrity Family Feud episode aired on ABC. And unlike the senior reality TV stars, the game show episode didn’t age so well…
Celebrity Family Feud host Steve Harvey put on his finest gold suit to welcome Turner and his family to the stage in the July 16 episode. While it was great to see the two Golden Bachelor stars back on our screens, when asked to introduce his team, Turner kicked things off by saying, “This is my lovely wife, Theresa.” Awkward!
At the time the episode was filmed, Theresa was Gerry’s wife, so he technically didn’t lie. But hearing the words today served as a sad reminder of The Golden Divorce. And since the Celebrity Family Feud episode was teased just a few days before Turner and Nist called it quits, his intro felt like a real choice.
Along with Turner and Nist, The Golden Bachelor team included Nist’s daughter and son, along with Turners two daughters. The family played against (and destroyed!) a Bachelor Nation team comprised of Joey Graziadei, Kelsey Anderson, Charity Lawson, Dotun Olubeko, Zach Shallcross, and Kaity Biggar. And as you likely guessed, Turner calling Nist his lovely wife wasn’t the only noteworthy pre-divorce moment of the night.
The two exes shared several sweet hugs to celebrate wins throughout the episode, but the knowledge that Turner and Nist are now divorced made for a few awkward moments. During the Fast Money round, for instance, Harvey told viewers, “I got the Golden Bachelor and his baby!” Not anymore, Steve.
Then, after Turner said “purple” when asked to name “a popular color for women’s lingerie,” Harvey said, “You like that purple, huh Gerry. You hear that Theresa? Get to lookin’!” Harvey, please! At one point, Nist also joked that she was on the show against her will, though she was likely just referring to the Fast Money round. The pressure is real, Theresa! We get it.
In the end, despite the belated air date awkwardness, The Golden Bachelor team won $25,000 for The University of Iowa Stead Children’s Family Hospital, so it was ultimately a super successful episode. Following their decision to split, Turner and Nist said they’re still close friends and intend to remain in each others’ lives. The episode was just poorly timed.
Let’s hope if The Golden Bachelorette‘s Joan Vassos and her potential fiancé get a chance to take the stage alongside Steve Harvey their episode can air when they’re very much in their happy couple stage.
