The Golden Bachelor contestant Maria Trice said that she “dodged a bullet” after Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist announced that they’re getting divorced after just three months of marriage. Maria, a 61-year-old health and wellness director from Teaneck, New Jersey, was eliminated on night one of The Golden Bachelor season 1. Gerry went on to marry Theresa in a live, televised wedding on January 4, 2024. However, on April 12, 2024, they announced that they were getting divorced after they couldn’t settle on where to live because neither one of them wanted to move away from their families.

In an interview with People, Maria stated that she felt that she “dodged a bullet” when she heard the news about Gerry and Theresa’s divorce. She stated that when “trying to force a shoe that doesn’t fit, you’re going to get corns on your toes.” Maria added that when people are in a later stage of life, they “have stuff.” She explained that “even if they do their due diligence of finding out as much as they can about everyone, I think other stuff just comes up, men in particular.” Maria also said that “getting to know all about” someone is a “dance.”

Maria Trice Says Theresa Nist Can Do Better

Maria Is Rooting For Theresa

Maria explained that, in relationships, at first, “everyone is showing their inner ambassador and batting their eyes.” However, she added that when people really get to know each other, sometimes they’re unsure if they really want to spend the rest of their lives together. Maria also offered support for Theresa, whom she called “the sweetest,” saying that she hopes that Theresa is happy. Maria added that she herself has had a lot of love in her life, including “real love,” and Theresa “can do it again, and she can do it better. The biggest love you can have is loving yourself and that attracts all sorts of things.”

Maria’s comments about Gerry and Theresa’s divorce are intriguing because she seems to hint that Gerry is to blame for what happened. However, she only knew him for one night, so it’s interesting that she said that she dodged a bullet. She’s right that one aspect about being older contestants on The Golden Bachelor is that the lead and contestants will have much more of a past. However, Gerry and Theresa’s issues seem to be more about their present, if their reason about wanting to stay close to their own families is to be believed.

Gerry and Theresa might have been caught up in the moment during The Golden Bachelor. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they didn’t know each other well enough before they got married. Rather, they seem to have truly thought that they could compromise about where to live. However, it simply didn’t happen for them. Maria is right that Theresa can find love again, and hopefully Gerry will too. After all that they’ve been through in their lives, they both deserve to find the love that they were searching for on The Golden Bachelor.