On April 12, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist announced their plans to “dissolve” their marriage three months after saying “I Do” in a televised wedding special
When The Golden Bachelor‘s Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist announced their divorce after three months of marriage, Tyler Cameron was among those who were shocked to hear of their separation.
Cameron, who made his mark on Bachelor Nation as runner up on Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette, reacted to the news and claimed that the couple had put a “true stain on love in The Bachelor world” in the wake of their divorce.
“Three months? They make all of my relationships seem very long,” Cameron joked on SiriusXM’s TODAY Show Radio’s The Happy Hour on Wednesday, April 17. “Like golly, I’m a dating expert compared to them!”
He went on to explain that he believes that Turner, 72, and Nist, 70, “put a stain on love and Bachelor Nation” because their story was “the most wholesome” and brought back “so much joy” to the dating franchise. Cameron added that their journey was a refreshing juxtaposition to other contestants who have campaigned for social media fame.
“[They] brought like joy and true love that we thought and then they just pulled the rug right out from under us like ‘Nope, we don’t want to live together [or] live near each other,'” he continued, before going into another idea about the demise of Turner and Nist’s relationship.
Using his father’s tendencies in old age to describe his second “theory,” Cameron revealed that he believes that people tend to get stubborn about their lifestyle habits as they get older.
“My dad, he’s old, he’s set in his ways and he’s single and he can’t find anyone that wants to deal with the stuff he does,” he shared, adding that he doesn’t “blame” his father’s suitors for their waning interest. “But he doesn’t want to change much either and I imagine Gerry and Theresa … don’t want to change their ways.”
“[Turner] doesn’t want to leave Indiana where his family is and [Nist] doesn’t want to leave … New Jersey where she wants to live,” Cameron continued. “Like it’s just two stubborn old people, you know, and when you get older you get more stubborn.”
On the season finale of The Golden Bachelor on Nov. 30, 2023, Turner gave his final rose to Nist. The series followed the father of two (and grandfather of two) on his journey to find love after the death of his wife Toni. Shortly after, Turner and Nist said their “I dos” on Jan. 4 in a televised wedding special and their union sparked hope for senior singles looking for love late in life.
On April 12, Turner and Nist sat down with Good Morning America for a joint interview and confirmed their plan to “dissolve” the marriage. They explained that Turner still resides at his Indiana lake house, while Nist lives in New Jersey. The pair’s plan to move to Charleston, South Carolina never came to fruition.
“We looked at home after home, but we never got to the point where we made that decision,” Nist said.
Turner added, “The thing that strikes me the most in our conversations, it’s been how dedicated both of us are to our families. So we look at these conversations and we both think it’s best for the happiness of each of us to live apart.”
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Shortly after announcing the news, Turner filed for divorce. He submitted a petition to Pike Circuit Court in Indiana on April 12 to dissolve the marriage with his wife, according to public records viewed by PEOPLE. Turner listed the reason for their split as an “irretrievable breakdown” of their marriage.