Bachelor Nation’s Ben Higgins is sharing information allegedly about what led to Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist calling off their three-month marriage.
“This is a rumor. I want to be clear that as I preface this, this is a rumor of a generalization of a conversation that Gerry and Theresa had, and I think you’re gonna find it interesting,” Ben, 35, clarified during the diving into the story on the Monday, May 6, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast.
“There is a rumor that on Theresa’s visit to Indiana, Gerry picked Theresa up at the airport,” he began, claiming that prior to the trip the pair were already “not seeing eye-to-eye in life” with each other. It was during the duo’s two-hour drive through corn fields back to Gerry’s lake house that according to Ben, who is from Indiana, Theresa, 70, made a comment that upset Gerry, 72.
“[She said], ‘Wow, look at all this beautiful untouched land. Think about what could be done if they developed it. Condos, office buildings, apartments. Think about the towns that could congregate in these open fields and think about the people that would be interested in moving here. And look at that lake. There’s a lake with only cornfields around it. Think about if they build up a resort where people could vacation to,’” Ben alleged. “And Gerry’s comment back to her, again, a rumor, was, ‘You don’t take land from a farmer.’”
The Bachelor franchise went nearly 20 years before an official divorce. There are several pairings still going strong from The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, but the majority of the duos who meet on the reality TV shows go their separate ways before they walk down the aisle. And while some consider Marcus […]
Ben added: “This was a big start to them disagreeing on how they saw the world and what they imagined for the world and how they wanted to invest into the world.”
While Ben’s podcast cohost, Ashley Iaconetti, said she thinks Ben made the rumor up, their podcast guest, former Bachelor Chris Soules — who is a farmer — said he could see “both sides” of Gerry and Theresa’s alleged argument.
Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist Disney/John Fleenor
“There’s areas that would benefit from development and economically, it makes sense. But there’s a ton of land out there, farmers have plenty of land to farm, and sometimes there’s some misconceptions that, maybe, there’s a shortage, but they’re not making any more new land, so there’s that,” Chris noted. “But that doesn’t seem like something that should interfere in a fundamental breakup of a relationship, I would say. I think there’s a happy medium that we can all live with. … I don’t think that should have resulted in [a breakup], but you, to each their own, I guess.”
After falling in love on the debut season of The Golden Bachelor, Gerry and Theresa tied the knot during ABC’s The Golden Wedding live TV special in January. After Us Weekly confirmed that they still had not moved in together, they announced they were getting a divorce last month.
Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist were almost the first Golden Bachelor success story. Gerry got down on one knee and proposed to Teresa during the season 1 finale, which filmed in Costa Rica and aired in November 2023. “When I woke up this morning, it was difficult. I had really mixed feelings, and I got […]
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations and we’ve looked closely at our situation — our living situation — and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Gerry explained in a joint interview with Theresa on Good Morning America.
Us confirmed that Gerry filed for divorce that same day, citing an “irretrievable breakdown” of their marriage as the reason for their split. Us reached out for comment about the split at the time.
Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner Disney/John Fleenor
Gerry and Theresa’s final interview as a couple offered some insight into their relationship dynamic. During a March episode of the “Dear Shandy” podcast, the now-exes revealed that they had conflicting thoughts over Theresa’s choice to continue working and described their fighting style as “intellectual jousting.”
“When we do have a conflict, we’re both locked in at a certain spot that maybe is very close but not identical,” Gerry stated. “And then we look at each other and go, ‘Oh, what’s going on here?’”
