Mark Consuelos wanted to be the first to join Golden Bachelor stars Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist in matrimony.
“We understand that they want you guys to get married on TV,” Mark’s wife and cohost Kelly Ripa told Gerry, 72, and Theresa, 70, during the Thursday, December 26, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark. “Mark is an ordained minister and since we’re all gathered here today, we could just do a wedding right here.”
Gerry and Theresa laughed as Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” began to play. Kelly, 53, grabbed a bouquet of flowers off a nearby coffee table and produced a set of rings before Mark, 52, began with the vows.
“I just have a few questions. Theresa, do you plan to cherish and honor Gerry in sickness and in health?” Mark asked before posing the same question to Gerry. The couple, who got engaged during the Golden Bachelor season 1 finale last month, both agreed.
“And Gerry, do you plan to love Theresa now and forever?” Mark continued.
“Oh, I do plan to love her now and forever,” Gerry said, taking his time with the sentiment.
“You better,” Theresa joked before echoing the same vow.
Mark then declared, “By the authority vested in me by the show of Live with Kelly and Mark, I pronounce you husband and wife,” as Theresa laughingly protested, “No, wait, we’re not ready.”
Kelly wrapped up the unofficial ceremony by telling Gerry and Theresa, “You may now suck on your ring pops.” The duo laughed as Mark dubbed the fake nuptials “a rehearsal.”
Gerry and Theresa are set to tie the knot for real during the televised special The Golden Wedding, which airs on ABC Thursday, January 4. During a November appearance on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, Gerry defended the twosome’s decision to fast track the wedding.
“We’re old! Think about it this way: You can wait a year in your 20s because that might be 3 percent of your remaining life,” he said. “When you’re in your 70s, a year could be 10 percent or 20 percent of the time you have left.”
The retired restaurateur added that the pair “didn’t want to put off” something that they “really felt was right.”
Theresa was one of 22 women who vied for Gerry’s affection during the first season of The Golden Bachelor, which premiered in September. After breaking things off with runner-up Leslie Fhima, Gerry proposed to Theresa — but not before faking her out first.
“When I woke up this morning, it was difficult. I had really mixed feelings, and I got to the point with the questions I had asked myself about, how did I get here? And is she the right girl? I came to the realization that you’re not the right person for me to live with,” Gerry said during the finale before getting down on one knee. “You’re the person that I can’t live without. Theresa, I love you 1,000 percent. I’m never going to stop believing that every day I choose you. Will you marry me?”
Ahead of the romantic moment, Theresa gushed about her hopes for a future with Gerry.
“I feel that for us that life isn’t over, that the best is yet to come. I think you are the most wonderful man in the world,” she said. “Now that I’ve found you, I don’t ever want to let you go. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Gerry was previously married to his high school sweetheart, Toni, until she died of a bacterial infection in 2017. They shared two daughters, Jenny and Angie.
Theresa, meanwhile, was also previously married to her high school sweetheart, Billy, who died in 2014. They shared two children, son Tommy and daughter Jen.
The Golden Wedding will air on ABC Thursday, January 4, at 8 p.m. ET.
