Golden Bachelor couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist have officially tied the knot, live on ABC.
The couple first met on the Golden Bachelor, where Turner was the lead. After picking Nist as the winner, the two had a live wedding at the La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs on Thursday 4 January. This was the first live Bachelor franchise wedding since Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici in 2014.
For the occasion, Nist’s dress was a white mermaid-style gown by designer Badgley Mischka and she was walked down the aisle by her son, Tommy Nist, while she made her way to both Turner and their officiate, who was coincidentally another former contestant on the show, Susan Noles.
During the ceremony, Noles joked about how it somehow made sense that she had lost the show but still officiated the wedding. “If five years ago, someone told me that I was going to be officiating the first-ever Golden Bachelor wedding and he wasn’t picking me, I would have said: ‘Yeah, that sounds about right,’” Noles said.
“But never have I ever married a couple that I watched fall so deeply in love. And they are so incredibly perfect for one another.”
Nist and Turner then echoed that sentiment when they went on to recite their vows. “Gerry, I went on The Golden Bachelor open to meeting the man of my dreams but never expected it to happen,” Nist said. “And then we went on our first date and it wasn’t short of magical.”
“I grew to love you,” she added. “We have so much love to share and now so many more people to share it with. I promise to be your calm in a storm, to comfort you when you’re sad, to laugh when you’re happy and to stick with you throughout it all. But most of all, to have fun. For the rest of the days that we have left on this Earth, which could be another hour, but I love you with all my heart.”
“Theresa, when I think of all the decisions that we’ve made to be in this position tonight, I know the hand of God and the winds of fate have ordained this moment,” Turner said in his vows. “From the first sip of chocolate shake, to the last taste of Costa Rican coffee, I learned that you’re the woman I can’t live without.”
“Your strength gives me joy,” he added. “Theresa, I know I’ve found a partner to share all of life’s experiences that are thrown at us. And so Theresa I make you this promise. I promise that if you’re my partner in life, I will make you the happiest woman on Earth. I promise to choose you everyday as the one I love and never take your heart for granted.”
In addition to their loved ones, other members of Turner’s season showed up to the wedding including Kathy Swarts, Ellen Goltzer and Leslie Fhima, who was the runner-up on the show.
“I’m so so happy for her and Gerry,” Fhima said. “At the end of the day, I’m here to support love in any way.”
The ceremony ended with the Bachelor franchise’s host, Jesse Palmer, announcing that he was rushing home for his wife Emely Fardo, who was preparing to give birth.
“I’m Jesse Palmer, and I gotta get out of here because I’m about to be a dad,” he said before signing off. “Emely, I love you. I’m coming home right now. Good night, Bachelor Nation.”
The new season of The Bachelor is set to premiere on Monday 22 January at 8 pm on ABC and will be available for next-day streaming on Hulu.
