The Golden Bachelorseason 1 ended with Gerry Turner giving Theresa Nist his heart and his final rose, but the couple announced their divorce shortly after getting married. 72-year-old Gerry had a bevy of fantastic options. There were 22 single women, and Gerry hit it off with several of them. The retired restaurateur gave his final rose to fellow widower Theresa, a 69-year-old financier. During the season finale, Gerry proposed and Theresa accepted. The couple wasted no time planning their dream wedding.
TheGolden Bachelorweddingtook place just a few weeks later, despite the revelation that Gerry had been in a serious relationship and allegedly lied about it to producers. Theresa was able to look past it, and the wedding aired on NBC on January 4. The highly anticipated television event was attended byBachelorNation stars, including many of the women Gerry had just rejected. For many viewers, Gerry and Theresarepresented the hope of finding love later in life. Sadly, Gerry and Theresa announced their split in April 2024, and here’s how Gerry is moving on after the heartbreak.
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Gerry Is Focused On Family
He Has His Priorities Straight
Though Gerry was the target of a lot of criticism, he always put his family first. In fact, a big part of the reason he couldn’t make it work with Theresa is that he lived in Indiana, in the dream home he had built with his late wife, Toni Turner. Sinceseveral of his children and grandchildren live in the area, he couldn’t bare to move awayfrom them. Not even to be with Theresa, who lived in New Jersey, near her children and grandchildren.
Since the official end of his marriage,Gerry has focused on being with family. In late May 2024,Gerryposted a family photo to Instagram. The post has 8.5K likes and the caption reads, “Memorial Day weekend was so much fun with all the family around.” In the photo,Gerry is driving his family around the lake on a boat.
People give Gerry a hard time, but fans should remember thatThe Golden Bachelorwent through a very public breakup and deserves some grace.
Gerry Congratulates Joan Vassos On Being The Golden Bachelorette
He Doesn’t Regret Doing The Show
The inaugural season ofThe Golden Bachelorwas a big surprise hit for the franchise. It was very clear right away that there would be a female-led iteration of the spin-off. After months of speculation, formerThe Golden BachelorcontestantJoan Vassos was chosento beThe Golden Bachelorette.Joan, a 61-year-old school administrator, was one of the women Gerry dated during his season. Joan had a family emergency and had to leave the season early.
Despite only being on the show for a short time, Joan clearly left quite an impression.
When the casting announcement was made in May 2024,Gerryposted a congratulatory note to Joan on Instagram.
His note read, in part, “FROM ONE GOLDEN TO ANOTHER….RELAX, BREATHE AND ENJOY.”
The fact that Gerry can give Joan such positive advice proves that he’s not bitter about how things ended with Theresa. Though the process didn’t work for Gerry, he would probably do it all over again.
Gerry’s Journey As The Golden Bachelor
The Adventure Of A Lifetime
The Golden Bachelorseason 1couple, Gerry and Theresa, had a whirlwind romance that played out for the world to see. ABC announced that Gerry would be the lead ofThe Bachelorspinoff in July 2023. The names of the 22 women chosen to vie for Gerry’s heart were made public in August 2023. Years before appearing asThe Golden Bachelor,Gerry had been married to his high school sweetheart, Toni, for 43 years until she passed away in 2017after a brief illness. Though Gerry claimed he hadn’t dated since her death, that turned out to be untrue.
Theresa was also a widower, as her husband passed away several years ago, and she was ready for love again. Theresa was looking for a partner who could be her best friend during the next chapter of her life. Gerry wanted a partner who was high-energy and lived an active lifestyle.They hit it off right away, and Theresa was one of the front-runners throughout the season despite running into minor drama with some of the other women who were competing for Gerry’s heart.
Though Gerry and Theresa fell in love onThe Golden Bachelor,they couldn’t figure out how to blend their lives.
With Gerry in Indiana and Theresa in New Jersey,the marriage turned into a long-distance relationship, which became impossible to sustain. This is understandable, as most people in their 60s and 70s have lived full lives and would be hard-pressed to uproot their world for someone they met on a reality dating show. It’s hard to imagine that this won’t be a problem for Joan and any otherGolden Bachelorparticipant. Gerry has received most of the blame for his failed marriage, but there was more to it, as revealed by Gerry in December 2024.
Could Gerry Show Up On The Potential Golden Bachelor In Paradise?
He Deserves Another Shot At Love
There has been some hopeful speculation that ABC will produceGolden Bachelor In Paradise, where former contestants fromThe Golden BachelorandThe Golden Bachelorettecould try to find love again. If this becomes a reality,Gerry would be the perfect contestant to appear on the show. Despite allegations that Gerry wasn’t completely honest about his dating past, he’s still a very eligible bachelor who everybody seems to like. However, there is a major thing standing in the way of Gerry’s future in the franchise.
Though Gerry has been getting much of the blame for the divorce from Theresa, it’s not entirely fair.
Both Gerry and Theresa were unable to compromise or meet each other halfway. Two of the other women who appeared onThe Golden Bachelor, Kathy Swarts and Susan Noles, have even taken Gerry’s side in the breakup. Regardless of whose fault it was, both Gerry and Theresa deserve a life filled with love and happiness.
72 years old
Retired restaurateur
69 years old
61 years old
Gerry Got A Shocking Medical Diagnosis
Gerry Has Cancer
On July 23, 2025, Gerry gave an interview toPeoplein which he announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer. Gerry’s diagnosis came in March 2024, just weeks before he and Theresa announced their intention to divorce. Gerry found out he had cancer after a visit to the doctor for a shoulder injury. Upon reviewing his blood work, Gerry’s doctor found abnormalities, and he was soon diagnosed with a slow-acting bone marrow cancer. Gerry’s type of cancer turns blood cells into cancer cells and attacks bone marrow.
“As Theresa and I were trying very hard to find our lifestyle and where we were going to live and how we were going to make our life work, I was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer.”
Gerry made it a point to talk highly of Theresa in the interview and to encourage fans to realize that there was more going on behind the scenes at the time they decided to split. Gerry’s priorities changed off of his new marriage, and onto how he wanted to spend his sunset time.
“Hopefully they’ll look at things a little bit differently, that maybe it wasn’t quite a rash, fast decision that people thought. That there was something else going on.”
Given Gerry’s terminal diagnosis, his priorities have changed, and a future in reality TV doesn’t seem likely for the pioneering senior. As for Gerry’s love life post-Golden era, Gerry is not a position to go looking for love again. His intentions are to spend as much time with his family as possible, and focus on enjoying the rest of his life. Gerry did appear in an episode ofThe Golden Bachelorette, where he gave Joan advice about her selection process and encouraged her to be honest with herself.
At the time he appeared inThe Golden Bachelorette, Gerry was already diagnosed with cancer. This means Gerry was persevering until he wanted the information to become public. Now that Gerry has made his tragic medical announcement, it’s unlikely he will continue to be in the public eye. Gerry is no longer viewed as the bad guy in his marriage to Theresa amid the cancer diagnosis, and it’s understandable in hindsight. The formerGolden Bacheloris coming to terms with his diagnosis, and will hopefully get all the support he needs from his family.
The Golden Bachelor
Cast
The Bachelor returns to TV with The Golden Bachelor, a romantic reality competition series created for ABC. The show will focus on an older generation of hopefuls, with one senior male hoping to court and win the heart of one of several older female contestants.
