Gerry Turner’s journey to love continued after Theresa Nist.
In fact, the 73-year-old secretly dated another “Golden Bachelor” contestant following his divorce from the New Jersey native, 72, in 2024.
Turner and Nist first got engaged at the end of 2023 on the show before exchanging vows on a TV special in January 2024. But by April of that year, the exes announced in an interview with “Good Morning America” that they were divorcing.
While on Wednesday’s episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, hosts Susan Noles and Kathy Swarts asked Nist about her ex-husband’s dating history.
“Theresa, I think you know, Gerry dated Christina from our show for a while after…” Noles claimed.
Christina Kempton was another contestant competing for Turner’s love on the series in 2023.
Nist replied that she “now” knew it was true, alleging it happened “a while ago.”
“I’m actually the one who suggested he go out with Christina,” she revealed.
”We’re all on the same page. They went out for, like, six months,” Swarts chimed in, which surprised the finance whiz.
According to Kempton’s bio from the “Golden Bachelor,” the then-73-year-old is a retired purchasing manager who lived in Sierra Madre, Calif.
Turner sent her home during week three.
The Post reached out to Turner’s rep for comment.
Turner, meanwhile, revealed in April, per TMZ, that he’s dating a retired school teacher named Lana, who also lives in Indiana.
“I really am happy for him,” Nist, who’s also dating, stated on an episode of “The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast” in June. “And if he had to find his person by going this circuitous route, then he did, then it was successful. He found someone that really suits him, and that’s wonderful. So I think it worked out the way it was supposed to work out.”
While on the mic, Nist also addressed rumors that she and Turner split over his cancer diagnosis.
“It was a zero factor, zero. Absolutely. I was just so surprised that he even said that,” she detailed. “I knew about the cancer a long time ago. And the way Gary presented it to me was that, ‘The doctor said that I’m going to die of old age before this cancer gets to me.’”
“He bluffed it off, like it really wasn’t that important,” continued Nist. “And he had no symptoms, and he still doesn’t. So we never had a conversation that said, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re sick. I can’t stay with you now. I have to leave.’ That never happened.”
In December 2024, Turner revealed he’s been diagnosed with a blood cell cancer, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, claiming it played into their split.
He also admitted that he and Nist each wanted to live close to their families in different states.
“When you are hit with that kind of news and the shock wears off after a few days or a few weeks and you regroup and you realize what’s important to you, that’s where you start to move forward,” Turner told People. “And I hope that people understand in retrospect now that that had a huge bearing on my decisions and I think probably Theresa’s as well.”
“They interviewed him the day before they interviewed me,” Nist explained on the podcast. “And right before my interview, they contacted me, and they said, ‘Hey, we want to talk to you right now, because Gerry just came out and said that his illness was the reason you broke up.’ And I go, ‘What?’ I said, ‘No, it wasn’t that.’ There was zero conversation about that being in it.”
Although at the time, she did believe that Turner thought he was telling the truth.
“If that was the reason, it was in his mind only, never discussed as a reason. He said it was a factor that weighed heavily into my decision. And I would imagine Theresa’s, too,” Nist confessed. “He just imagined. But it had nothing to do with it. Nothing. I would have never left my husband over in illness. I stayed with my husband, Billy.”
She noted, “I mean, for years he was sick, and he passed away at home. He was in hospice. I mean, it was really pretty bad. But I would never leave … That’s just not me. That wouldn’t happen.”
In September, Nist made it clear she harbors no ill will toward Turner.
“So Gerry and I have spoken,” she exclusively told The Post. “We don’t speak regularly. I would say I wish him all the best, and I can see that he has so many friends, and I’m so happy for him that he does.”
