Spoiler alert! This story reveals the winner of The Golden Bachelor Season 2, which is available to stream with a Hulu subscription if you’re not caught up.
A large contingent of Bachelor Nation alumni were in the audience last week, as Mel Owens’ season of The Golden Bachelor wrapped on the 2025 TV schedule. That included the first season’s final couple, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist, who infamously divorced three months into their marriage. The two have been trading accusations in the press lately, following the release of Turner’s memoir, and an insider alleged there were terms in place to secure their attendance.
Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist fell in love on The Golden Bachelor Season 1 and got married in an unhinged wedding ceremony that aired live on ABC, so it makes sense that the network would want them there to support Mel Owens on the Season 2 finale. Following the episode, which saw Peg Munson accept Owens’ final rose — but not a proposal — an insider said Turner and Nist had allegedly insisted on certain conditions before agreeing to be in the audience. They told The Sun:
Theresa and Gerry were both invited to attend last night and they agreed to it under the terms that they wouldn’t be seated near each other. They also did not want to be shown on camera together, or forced to speak to each other at all.
Gerry Turner attended the event with his new fiancée Lana Sutton, while Theresa Nist sat beside her bestie, Season 1 runner-up Leslie Fhima, and other Goldens. I guess that means Nist wasn’t too upset that Fhima refused to defend her against Turner’s accusations in his book, Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss and Reality TV.
While The Bachelor producers often seem willing to create drama at all costs, they stuck by their word (or maybe their contract?) and maintained a distance between the former spouses. The source continued:
The teams on set coordinated to make sure they were separated the whole time. It was really awkward and tense at first when they both walked in but eventually that faded and it went smooth.
One would certainly hope that Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist would have enough respect for Mel Owens and Peg Munson — even after a season that’s been something of a mess — to not make the night about them, but in this franchise, you can’t always trust everyone to make the smartest decisions.
In his memoir Gerry Turner discusses a disconnect between Theresa Nist and himself, as he mentioned her diet of fish, salads and smoothies as something that didn’t work for him. He also accused her of misrepresenting her economic situation and said they couldn’t agree on a home to buy together because she allegedly wanted to spend millions more than he did.
Theresa Nist, meanwhile, has denied the house claims, denied that his cancer diagnosis played into their divorce and pretty much refuted Turner’s recollection of their time together.
With Mel Owens’ Golden Bachelor finale taking place just a week after Gerry Turner’s book release, it’s pretty wild timing for Turner and Theresa Nist to have their first in-person reunion. If the insider information is correct, it definitely makes sense that they would have these terms in place before agreeing to go back in front of the cameras.