The Golden Bachelor's Historic Wedding: A Tale of Love, Controversy, and Red Flags

The Golden Bachelor's Love Story

The premiere season of The Golden Bachelor ended with a proposal by lead Gerry Turner to his now-fianc\u00e9, Theresa Nist, and the two are set to have their historic wedding on January 4, 2024.

The Golden Bachelor’s Gerry Turner with Faith martin

72-year-old Gerry is a retired restaurateur with two adult daughters. He became a widower in 2017 after his wife, Toni Turner, passed away from a sudden bacterial infection. Gerry started his The Golden Bachelor journey with 22 women vying for his heart. He built strong connections with many of the women, and each rose ceremony grew more and more painful for Gerry.

Gerry Turner Faith Martin The Golden Bachelor

Gerry went on three hometown dates. He met the families of Theresa, 70, Leslie Fhima, 64, and Faith Martin, 60. He told each woman that he loved them but ended up breaking Faith Martin's heart when he named her the third runner-up. That left Theresa and Leslie to grow their connections with Gerry on the Fantasy Suite dates in Costa Rica. It seemed as though Gerry was going to choose Leslie to propose to, but after Theresa apparently opened up the way Gerry needed to see, he chose her. Leslie was understandably devastated. Now, Theresa and Gerry are going to have a live Bachelor Nation wedding, which should be momentous.

Gerry Turner Leslie Fhima The Golden Bachelor

Gerry & Theresa's Wedding Is The Quickest In Bachelor Nation History

The Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner with Leslie Fhima montage background

ABC's The Golden Bachelor lead Gerry and his bride-to-be Theresa will have the first Bachelor Nation wedding in ten years. The last couple to get married was Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici, who married in a TV wedding in 2014. Gerry and Theresa got engaged in September 2023, which also makes this the shortest engagement period in Bachelor franchise history. Gerry opened up about the wedding day announcement and revealed why he and Theresa chose to wed so quickly. He stated, 'At our age, we don\u2019t have a lot of time to waste,' via 'The Golden Bachelor: After the Final Rose.'

Joan Vassos Gerry Turner The Golden Bachelor

Red Flags and Controversies

The January 4, 2024, wedding of Gerry and Theresa will also be a special endeavor because the pair are getting married while there are glaring red flags present. Gerry was caught in a scandal recently. On the show, Gerry said he had not dated since his wife passed away in 2017. However, an ex-girlfriend of Gerry's came forward to highlight the relationship they had and the negative reasons why it ended. Other people in Gerry's life alleged that Gerry had dated other women after his wife passed.

Gerry also presented himself as a retired restauranteur, but he owned a restaurant franchise decades ago. Since then, he has been doing maintenance and handyman work. His work omissions also paint Gerry as someone who doesn't always tell the truth. Theresa, on the other hand, is a successful woman in the finance industry who is still working at 70. While Theresa did say she would retire if she found love, her love of working in her profession might cause a problem for slower-paced Gerry.

Since Gerry and Theresa's financial situations and lifestyles appear to differ greatly, their future lives together, moving in and progressing, might not align. Theresa is more financially stable than Gerry, so she has more to lose should the relationship go south. Theresa is reported to have asked Gerry for a prenup, a legal move her friends are apparently urging her to do (via Life & Style). Since Gerry and Theresa have not known each other long, a prenup would be smart, but Gerry is allegedly offended by it. Gerry and Theresa also are both Leos, which doesn't usually make a compatible astrological match.

The Drama Surrounding the Wedding

The other point that could make this The Golden Bachelor wedding extra historic, is the possibility of the women Gerry dated during the show being present at the wedding. Gerry formed strong connections with many of the women he dated on the show, and he also broke their hearts in the process. When Gerry and Theresa were on the Bachelor Happy Hour Podcast, Theresa revealed that she would invite all the women she competed against to her and Gerry's wedding. When asked if she thought Leslie would show up, Theresa replied, 'I would invite Leslie, I don\u2019t know if she would come.'

Based on Theresa's Instagram posts and communications, she is friendly with at least Faith. Many of Gerry's past The Golden Bachelor front-runners might show up to support their friend Theresa over showing up for Gerry's sake. Attending the first Bachelor Nation wedding in ten years might also give extra airtime to those women from the season who want it. Possibly even those who may become the next Golden Bachelorette should the show happen. Were Gerry's former love interests to attend the wedding, it could be potentially climactic as well, should any of them choose to speak either negatively or positively.

Gerry and Theresa are hell-bent on getting married at the start of the new year and sharing their nuptials with the world. The day will be historic not only because of what it means for the Bachelor franchise but also because of the hastiness of the wedding in general. The Golden Bachelor has put senior dating on the map, and Gerry and Theresa's wedding encourages the show's fanbase to believe in love in a person's sunset years. It will be a historic Bachelor franchise event should Gerry's former love interests attend. Furthermore, time will tell if the red flags in Gerry and Theresa's union will cause drama.