Gerry Turner and wife Theresa Nist announced their split on Good Morning America.
The twosome revealed on Friday, April 12, that they are getting a divorce three months after their TV 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, adding that it’s “best for the happiness of each of us to live apart” and be near their families.
Earlier this month, TMZ reported that the Golden Bachelor stars, who tied the knot on-camera in January, have not yet moved in together. Instead, Gerry remains in Indiana, while Theresa continues to reside in her home state of New Jersey.
Concerning the couple’s living arrangements, an insider explained to Us Weekly that one of the reasons the pair have no immediate plans to uproot their lives is because Theresa is continuing to work as a senior compliance officer at a financial advisory office on the East Coast.
The source noted that instead, the spouses are choosing to navigate their long-distance relationship by making time to visit each other often.
Although the couple have never lived under the same roof, Gerry and Teresa did express that they dreamed of eventually settling down in the same place together.
“One of the things that I think fate played a hand in is the possibility of where we might wind up living. For the last couple of years, when my family gets together, I’ve talked about moving to South Carolina, and it’s an idea I’ve toyed with. And then in conversation with Theresa, a private moment, she’s saying, ‘Well, yeah, my son lives near Charleston in South Carolina,’” Gerry told People in December 2023. “And all of a sudden it’s like, there’s a big problem that is gone. The issue of compromising on where to live and how to reconcile families and all of that is, it’s no longer an issue.”
Theresa agreed, adding that she saw them buying a big home one day so that their adult children and grandchildren could feel comfortable coming to visit.
Gerry and Teresa met and fell in love on the first season of The Golden Bachelor, which ended with them getting engaged during the show’s finale episode in September 2023. A few months later on January 4, 2024, the said “I do” in front of ABC cameras.
This is the second marriage for both Gerry and Theresa. Gerry was previously married to his high school sweetheart, Toni, for 43 years before she passed away in 2017. Theresa, meanwhile, was married to her high school sweetheart, Billy, for 42 years before his death in 2014.
Since getting together, the couple have always made a point to respect each other’s previous relationships and even incorporated their late spouses into their wedding.
“I know that I picked out a song that Billy loved, and so maybe we’ll pick out a song for Toni,” she told E! News in a January interview. “We have yet to write our vows, but I plan on incorporating that into my vows. So, we’ll see. And we’ll be thinking about them the entire day.”
