‘Golden Bachelor’ alum Theresa Nist appeared tense on ‘Celebrity Family Feud’ with Gerry Turner before split
“The Golden Bachelor” star Gerry Turner introduced Theresa Nist as his “lovely wife” on Tuesday’s episode of “Celebrity Family Feud,” which was filmed before their shocking split news.
The two met on the debut season of the ABC series and married in a televised ceremony on Jan. 14. They announced their split after three months of marriage in April.
Bachelor Nation took over last night’s episode of the long-running quiz show, as Nist and Turner stood alongside their family, competing against former Bachelor Joey Graziadei and other alums of the reality dating show.
When Turner, 72, introduced his now-former partner to “Celebrity Family Feud” host Steve Harvey, he said: “This is my lovely wife, Theresa.”
Nist, 70, was the first to compete and, at one point, appeared slightly tense and nervous as she played in the Fast Money segment.
“Are you ready?” Harvey asked, to which she replied: “No, but OK. I’ll do it anyway.”
Harvey, 67, questioned: “Are you out here against your will?”
Without hesitation, Nist said, “Yes!”
The “Golden Bachelor” team consisted of the exes, Nist’s children and Turner’s daughters. They won the episode, earning $25,000 to donate to the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
When Turner guessed the answer of the final question correctly, Nist ran over to hug him.
Some viewers found watching the former couple compete on the show to be awkward.
“The Golden Bachelor family is so funny rn esp since they got divorced,” one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
A second wrote in all caps, “Not the Golden Bachelor on Family Feud when they’re currently divorced
.”
“So messy… They’re still going to show the Bachelor Nation vs Golden Bachelor Family Feud,
” a third said.
“Lol this is awk knowing they are divorced,” another wrote.
Turner and Nist previously revealed that they couldn’t make their long-distance relationship work. Turner lives in Indiana, whereas Nist lives in New Jersey.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations and we’ve looked closely at our living situation,” Turner told “Good Morning America” in April. “We’ve come to the decision mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage.”
Their divorce was finalized on June 13.
Former “Golden Bachelor” contestant Susan Noles spoke out about their split soon after.
“I’ve gotta support this man a little bit. I feel like he got the wrong end of it,” she said during SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show” in May.
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“Theresa decided not to move and not to quit her job. He got frustrated. Who can blame him? I mean, I would’ve never said I would move to that place wherever that is in the middle of nowhere,” she added.
Fellow co-star Kathy Swarts also defended Turner.
“Gerry’s a nice guy. Theresa’s a lovely lady. S – – t happens. Sorry. It does,” she said during the interview. “We like them both, but yeah. You know, I’m sorry. You know someone a month or six weeks and these things happen.”
She added: “I think they got caught up in the moment. We watched them fall in love. They bonded that first night, on that date. It was real.”
“The Golden Bachelorette” is up next for the ABC franchise. Maryland native Joan Vassos, 61, who was previously on Turner’s season, will star.
It will debut on ABC on Sept. 18.
