Gerry Turner reveals dark thoughts after ‘Golden Bachelor’ divorce

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‘Golden Bachelor’ star Gerry Turner thought he had discovered ‘the one’ in Theresa Nist, however simply three months after saying ‘I do’ the fairytale romance collapsed.

The 74-year-old widower from Indiana made historical past as the primary senior star of ABC’s hit relationship sequence “The Golden Bachelor,” the place he met Nist, additionally a widow. After a whirlwind courtship, they married dwell on TV in January 2024, solely to announce their divorce in April. Now Turner displays on his seek for a fortunately ever after in his new memoir: “Golden years.”

‘GOLDEN BACHELOR’ GERRY TURNER WARNS EX-WIFE THERESA NIST ‘TO BE CONCERNED’ ABOUT HIS UPCOMING MEMOIR

Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist have been married on January 4, 2024. The ceremony was captured in a particular titled ‘The Golden Wedding ceremony’. (John & Joseph Images/Disney by way of Getty Pictures)

“Nicely, I admit it was an enormous mistake, but it surely’s at all times simple to have 20/20 hindsight,” Turner informed Fox Information Digital. “I believe I harm Theresa, I harm my household. There have been quite a lot of issues that I used to be so imperfect at. … There wasn’t a single flashpoint second the place I noticed the wedding was over. It was a gradual march to the top.”

WATCH: ‘GOLDEN BACHELOR’ GERRY TURNER OPENS ABOUT THERESA NIST SPLIT

In his memoirs, Turner admits that it was troublesome to simply accept how rapidly issues fell aside. He wrote that he had “rushed to a marriage [he] did not imagine in it” and later discovered himself “in a really darkish place.”

“I used to be already in a stoop after submitting for divorce,” Gerry Turner wrote. “It is laborious to confess to your self that you’ve got made such a really dangerous resolution. For months, I could not shake my bitter resentment towards Theresa and the present. Nor might I rid myself of the sensation that I used to be a disappointment. I could not learn individuals practically in addition to I assumed I might. I had rushed to a marriage that I did not imagine in.” (Eric McCandless/Disney by way of Getty Pictures)

Fox Information Digital reached out to Nist, 71, for remark. Previous to the ebook’s publication, she stated We weekly: “It makes me very unhappy to suppose that he felt empty and trapped. I want he would have stated one thing and simply ended it. However at the very least now I perceive why he harm me so many occasions. And I’ll say this. These in greenhouses usually are not allowed to throw stones. I want him all the very best.”

Turner, a retired restaurateur, had discovered love earlier than. He married his highschool sweetheart Toni in 1974. Their marriage lasted till Toni died in 2017, six weeks after she retired and have become sick. People magazine reported. Their two daughters later inspired Turner to take part within the present. The Midwesterner hesitated, however puzzled if he might discover love once more.

Gerry Turner and his first spouse Toni on their wedding ceremony day. “Many individuals anticipated our marriage to fail as a result of we have been so younger,” he wrote. “It was our youth and our dedication to one another that made us profitable for 43 years! We grew up collectively and by no means considered not being collectively.” (Courtesy of Gerry Turner)

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“I wasn’t ,” Turner recalled to Fox Information Digital. “At first I used to be revolted by the concept. However after an evening’s sleep I assumed, ‘There’s nothing happening right here. Hopefully it will work out for me.’ I threw my hat into the ring, and that after all began a really lengthy course of to get to the purpose the place I used to be truly named the primary ‘Golden Bachelor.’

Gerry Turner is seen right here surrounded by his daughters and granddaughters. (Brian Bowen Smith/ABC by way of Getty Pictures)

It was simple to fall for Nist among the many members. They each skilled heartbreak after an extended, glad marriage. Turner and Nist have been additionally dedicated to their youngsters and grandchildren. At first it appeared like a match made in Heaven.

Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner rapidly bonded on set. They each expressed hope of discovering love once more. (John Fleenor/ABC by way of Getty Pictures)

Turner claimed that Nist informed him that after she discovered “the precise man,” she would give up her job to concentrate on a brand new chapter of journey together with her husband. However months later he claimed that Nist needed to work for “one other 12 months, perhaps a 12 months and a half.” Turner stated he revered Nist’s targets however wished he had recognized sooner.

“I’d attempt to shorten that time-frame as a result of I used to be actually taking a look at what I needed out of that relationship and what she needed in her job as mutually unique,” he defined. “We could not have each issues. … It actually informed me that there was no manner I used to be going to have the ability to get pleasure from what I needed to do, which was journey, have adventures and have enjoyable.”

Gerry Turner hoped to search out love once more in his ‘golden years’. He was on the lookout for a accomplice who was able to get pleasure from his retirement and expertise new adventures collectively. (John Fleenor/Disney by way of Getty Pictures)

Disagreements mounted – over the place to dwell, the way to spend their cash and even over the wedding contract. Turner claimed that Nist “needed nothing to do with Indiana,” viewing her New Jersey roots as a trip vacation spot and never a house. Days earlier than their wedding ceremony, he stated his lawyer frantically known as about her lacking signature on the prenup. People magazine reported that the couple had drawn up a prenuptial settlement previous to their wedding ceremony.

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Gerry Turner’s memoir, “Golden Years: What I’ve Discovered from Love, Loss, and Actuality TV,” is now out there. (Grand Central Publishing)

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Regardless of their makes an attempt to search out widespread floor, the cracks widened as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.

In line with reviews, Nist and Turner by no means lived collectively. Throughout their quick marriage, they struggled to discover a place they might each name house. Within the ebook, Turner wrote that after sharing “a really awkward goodbye on the airport,” he realized that they had “the heat of a gathering between distant cousins.” It was not the second act he had devised for himself.

Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist struggled to search out widespread floor after the cameras stopped rolling. (John Fleenor/Disney by way of Getty Pictures)

“That have was very painful,” he informed Fox Information Digital. “There are expectations whenever you get right into a relationship after which get into a wedding. There have been issues that I actually needed. I needed these moments of intimacy, it doesn’t matter what they have been. I needed to construct shared experiences. I needed to begin creating this catalog of recollections that we might have. And people issues did not occur. They only weren’t there.”

Gerry Turner proposed to Theresa Nist in the course of the finale of ‘The Golden Bachelor’, which aired on November 30, 2023. (John Fleenor/ABC by way of Getty Pictures)

“It felt empty at occasions,” he continued. “It felt like we have been forcing a relationship and forcing emotions that did not come naturally the best way they need to. I do not suppose it was one huge factor that saved us from discovering commonality and happiness with one another, however reasonably dozens of little issues that piled up.”

Turner stated he struggled with the reality — that he and Nist simply weren’t proper for one another.

Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist’s marriage occurred on the world stage, however its ending occurred quietly, away from the highlight. (John & Joseph Images/Disney by way of Getty Pictures)

“What made us need to undergo with the marriage? I believe Theresa and I’ve the identical ideas right here,” he mused to Fox Information Digital.

“We had a lifelong dedication to a partner. … We knew the significance of dedication. We knew the significance of being an instance to our kids and grandchildren. … We stated, ‘We will get to know one another. We will iron out all of the areas the place we do not know one another effectively sufficient. We will make this work.'”

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Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist introduced their divorce on April 12, 2024, throughout a joint interview on “Good Morning America.” (Eric McCandless/Disney by way of Getty Pictures)

The wedding ended quietly throughout a personal stroll in California. They have been on the town for a celebration.

“We tried one final time to see if we might settle our variations,” Turner stated. “Lastly I requested, ‘Do you suppose it is time to cease?’ Her response with none hesitation was, ‘Sure, I believe it is time to name it off.'”

“I felt that the entire story, the entire story, had not been informed,” Gerry Turner informed Fox Information Digital. “And I actually needed to let you know that.” (Brian Bowen Smith/ABC by way of Getty Pictures)

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Turner later revealed that he briefly had suicidal ideas when he was criticized on-line for the divorce.

In each his ebook and interview with Fox Information Digital, Gerry Turner admitted that he struggled with the aftermath of his divorce. (John Fleenor/ABC by way of Getty Pictures)

“One night time, as I lay in mattress and stared on the ceiling, all of it grew to become an excessive amount of, and for the briefest of moments I considered placing a gun to my head,” he wrote. “However simply as rapidly I considered Jenny and Angie. I might by no means try this to my daughters, however I do not suppose I actually needed to kill myself. My ideas of suicide have been extra an expression of my need to vanish.”

“That was only a fast thought,” Turner clarified to Fox Information Digital.

Earlier than the ebook’s publication, Theresa Nist informed Us Weekly, “I want he would have stated one thing and simply ended the connection.” (John Fleenor/ABC by way of Getty Pictures)

Months later, in December 2024, Turner revealed that he had been identified with a slow-growing bone marrow most cancers. Within the ebook, he claimed that Nist had not signed up like another members.

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In line with ‘Golden Years’, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist usually are not on talking phrases. (John Fleenor/Disney by way of Getty Pictures)

“I did not have excessive expectations for Theresa or any of the opposite ladies after I shared what was happening, however to be so unimportant to somebody I used to be married to, even briefly, was very painful,” he wrote. ‘We do not discuss anymore; we now have no cause for that.’

At this time, Turner has hope about his future – and love. In October, he introduced his engagement to his new girlfriend, Lana Sutton. He popped the query 15 months after his divorce was finalized.

Gerry Turner was identified with bone marrow most cancers final 12 months. Since then, he has discovered love once more with Lana Sutton. (John Fleenor/ABC by way of Getty Pictures)

“I believe I’ve a certain quantity of resilience,” he stated, wanting again on the “darkish interval” in his post-divorce life.

Gerry Turner introduced his engagement to Lana Sutton on October 3, 2025. (Craig Sjodin/ABC by way of Getty Pictures)

“I name it my marathon mentality, which you can endure something for a sure time frame. And when that endurance of ache or unhappiness is over, it is time to decide your self up, put in your huge boy pants and get on with life. And that was it. I simply needed to shift gears.”