‘The Golden Bachelor’ Wedding: Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist Get Married in Live Special
The Golden Bachelor put love over 50 on the small screen, and after dating 22 eligible golden bachelorettes, 72-year-old Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner found the second love of his life, 70-year-old Theresa Nist. They’ll tie the knot at the first Golden Bachelor wedding, airing live Thursday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC. AARP caught up with the couple to chat about wedding registries, bachelor parties and love.
Gerry Turner and Theresa together with Gerry’s daughters and granddaughters
The golden couple with Gerry’s daughters and granddaughters.
JOHN FLEENOR/DISNEY
Q: How are your families involved in the wedding party?
Theresa: Every one of our family members is involved in the wedding party. And I can tell you that the ring bearer is going to be my youngest grandson, Henry. That’s what we can tell you. His daughters are in the bridal party. My daughter is, my daughter-in-law, everyone is. My grandsons.
Gerry: It’s a family affair.
Theresa: It’s a huge family affair. That’s right.
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Q: Do you have a registry? Have you been getting presents from viewers?
Theresa: We have not been getting any presents.
Gerry: But we do have a registry. It’s the Amazon wedding registry.
Q: I see. What are you pining for, some salad bowls?
Gerry: That’s probably the top of our list, you know, because at the age of 70 I’ve never had a good set of salad bowls.
Theresa: How about plates that match or glasses that match?
Q: It’s a bit of a rushed wedding, perhaps, compared to what you might have had if you weren’t on TV, right?
Theresa: No, we were going to do it sooner.
Gerry: They said back it up to Jan. 4. You know, we were thinking elope to Las Vegas as soon as the season ended.
Theresa: Hey, we’re 70 and 72. We have no time to waste.
Gerry: We don’t buy green bananas anymore. So, you know, the wedding thing is pretty easy to figure out.
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Q: What can people expect when they tune in? And what might be a little surprising to them? Can you hint at some of the surprises they might see?
Theresa: Well, they might see some of the behind the scenes. Maybe some family life? They might see some of the preparation.
Gerry: It’s hard to tell what they’ll see. I think what they will see is a traditional wedding with two people who’ve fallen very much in love with each other, two people who want to include their family in a very important ceremony. I don’t know that there’ll be a whole lot of surprises.
The Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist
ANTHONY BEHAR/PICTUREGROUP FOR DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION
Q: Maybe surprises aren’t what we want on a wedding day. You perhaps can’t talk about the music either, can you?
Theresa: Oh, yeah. No, they, we were asked to provide and list the songs that we liked. So we did. And I provided a lot more than I was asked for, because music is really important to me. And Gerry separately provided his list.
Gerry: And you probably are on Instagram a lot, so you saw my playlist. Yeah, it’s gotten a lot of attention. “Lil Boo Thang” is on there. So that’s one of my favorites. That came from within the season.
Theresa: I mean, that’s so new. So you see how hip he is? It’s crazy! A 72-year-old having “Lil Boo Thang.”
Q: Will there be a bachelor party for the Golden Bachelor?
Gerry: Probably not. No, time is close, and I’d rather have a good night’s sleep the few nights before a wedding than heading off somewhere to have a party.
Q: Do you think that you’re going into this with a few lessons learned at your stage in life that maybe a younger couple might not have?
Theresa: Most definitely. … The most important thing that we’ve learned from our relationships is to communicate, to really be honest with each other with your feelings. Don’t hold them in because little misunderstandings become major resentments. So you really need to just tell each other how you feel and talk to each other and not other people.
Gerry: And something we even mentioned as far back as the fantasy suites is that sometimes honesty can be difficult, but it’s so important in a relationship to be honest. And you know, we’re trying really hard to incorporate that into our lives together where we’re honest with each other. There’s good communication at all times, and it’s working.