In the wake of Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist’s divorce, Ben Higgins is sharing one piece of advice for those who are dipping their toes back into the dating pool at an older age.
“As you get older and date, where you’re living and the roots that you’ve already set up, how important are they to you to move from or not move from? That is the first thing,” Ben, 35, said during the Thursday, May 16, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast. “Now we know, if you’re 60, 70, 80 years old and you’re going on dates for the first time in a while, one of the big questions you need to start asking because of what the Golden show has shown us is, ‘Are you willing to transplant? Are you willing to move?’”
When it comes to Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos’ upcoming season, “Almost Famous” cohost Ashley Iaconetti said she hopes the producers “end up casting some last-minute guys” who reside near Joan, 61. “Because I also think when you get grandkids involved, you’re even less willing to move,” Ashley, 36, pointed out.
Gerry, 72, and Theresa, 70, announced their decision to split in April, just three months after their televised wedding.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations and we’ve looked closely at our situation — our living situation — and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Gerry said during an interview with Good Morning America.
Us Weekly broke the news that Gerry filed to dissolve their marriage the same day that the GMA interview aired.
Prior to their separation, Us confirmed that Gerry had been residing at his lake house in Indiana while Theresa had been living at her home in New Jersey.
“We looked at homes in South Carolina, we considered New Jersey, and we just looked at homes after home,” Theresa said during the April broadcast, “but we never got to the point where we made that decision.”
As rumors swirled about why the twosome — who met last year during The Golden Bachelor season 1 — went their separate ways, Ben shared some speculation he heard about an alleged comment Theresa made while visiting Gerry in Indiana.
“‘Wow, look at all this beautiful untouched land. Think about what could be done if they developed it. Condos, office buildings, apartments. Think about the towns that could congregate in these open fields and think about the people that would be interested in moving here,’” Ben claimed Theresa said while driving. “‘And look at that lake. There’s a lake with only corn fields around it. Think about if they build up a resort where people could vacation to.’ And Gerry’s comment back to her, again, a rumor, was, ‘You don’t take land from a farmer.’ And that was the start of them realizing that they did not see the world the same way.”
