ABC is releasing new footage from Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist‘s breakup interview.
When they announced their split on Good Morning America on Friday, April 12, Juju Chang teased more to come from her chat with the pair on Nightline.
“What do you say to the nerdy love people like me who think, ‘love will find a way.’ How do you give up after three months?” Chang asked Gerry, 72, and Theresa, 70, in the longer version of the interview.
“I think maybe it’s part of the fact that we are older and we do have homes and we do have children and we do have grandchildren – and I’m not saying it’s impossible [that] the love can’t overcome that, but it did play a major role,” Theresa replied.
Chang later asked if the couple considered a “commuter marriage,” to which Theresa brought up their age again.
“Because we’re older we wanted it immediately [to] be together,” she said. “When you’re young you got the time to be in a commuter marriage.”
Gerry added, “We didn’t see it as an option.”
The pair said that they started talking about a divorce “about three weeks ago.”
“We had some really good conversations, probably the most honest conversations we’d had,” Gerry said. “It was like the lightbulb went off that we were of the same mind.”
Theresa noted, “There wasn’t any fighting. It was a very gentle conversation.”
The duo added that they saw a couples counselor who helped them navigate the decision. “I think it was very useful,” Gerry said.
The Golden Bachelor couple fell in love during the inaugural season of the Bachelor spinoff. Theresa accepted a proposal from Gerry during the show’s finale in September 2023.
The pair then tied the knot in a televised wedding in January but had not officially moved in together following their nuptials.
Earlier this month, TMZ reported that Gerry had been living at his lake house in Indiana, while Theresa was still at home in her native New Jersey.
Us Weekly learned on April 1 that Gerry and Theresa had no immediate plans to change their living situation. An insider told Us that Theresa’s job as a senior compliance officer was keeping her in New Jersey, noting that the duo was visiting each other often as they navigated their long-distance relationship.
The distance ultimately played a part in their split. “Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations,” Gerry told the audience during his and Theresa’s GMA appearance on Friday. “We’ve looked closely at our living situations and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s time for us to dissolve our marriage.”
He explained that the pair’s dedication to their respective families — Gerry and Theresa each have two children and multiple grandchildren — outweighed their love.
“I think we just feel like it’s best for the happiness of each of us to live apart,” Gerry said. “I still love this person, there’s no doubt in my mind. I root for her every day.”
Us exclusively confirmed on Friday that Gerry filed for divorce in Petersburg, Indiana. He cited “irretrievable breakdown” as the reason for the dissolution of their union.
Gerry and Theresa have a prenuptial agreement, which they plan to honor. The twosome will also return their Neil Lane wedding and engagement rings in accordance to the Golden Bachelor contractual stipulations.
Both Gerry and Theresa were previously married. Gerry wed his high school sweetheart, Toni, and they were together 43 years before she passed away in 2017.
Theresa was also married to her high school sweetheart, Billy, for 43 years ahead of his death in 2014.
