LOS ANGELES – Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist were the first couple to meet and marry on The Golden Bachelor, American television network ABC’s spin-off of dating reality series The Bachelor (2002 to present) featuring cast members aged 60 and older.

On April 12, the newly-weds announced that they will also be the spin-off’s first couple to divorce.

They made the announcement in a joint appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America.

“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, and we’ve come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Turner, 72, said.

The anchor Juju Chang replied in shock. “Three months after getting married?” she said. “I mean, what the heck, guys?” she asked later in the interview.

Explaining their decision, Turner said both were dedicated to their families – each has children from previous marriages, as well as grandchildren – and that it made the most sense for them to live separately.

Nist, 70, added that they had looked at homes near family members in South Carolina and New Jersey, but that they had been unable to reach a conclusion.

The couple, through a representative, declined to be interviewed.

The franchise had positioned the pair as evidence that invigorating love stories can unfold later in life.

Before marrying Nist, Turner, a retiree from Indiana, was married for 43 years to his high school sweetheart, Toni. She died in 2017 after a brief illness.

“People my age still fall in love,” Turner told The New York Times after he was announced as the series’ lead of the first Golden Bachelor season. “People my age still have hope, and they still have vigorous lives.”

On the show, he connected with Nist, a financial services professional from Shrewsbury, New Jersey, and one of 22 women vying for his affection. They bonded over their experiences of loss – Nist’s first husband, Billy, died in 2014.

Turner proposed to Nist on the show’s season finale, which was broadcast in November. They married in a televised ceremony in Southern California in January, which was attended by several of Turner’s ex-girlfriends from the season.

Around the time of the finale, The Hollywood Reporter published an article in which a woman claiming to have dated Turner said he had misrepresented his romantic history on the show, and that the two had been in a serious relationship that he had omitted.

Turner told the Times that he had given the article only a “cursory look” and could not speak to its accuracy.

The show renewed interest in the Bachelor franchise at a time when its ratings had been slipping.

According to Nielsen statistics, the eight episodes before the Golden Bachelor finale on average received more viewers than any full seasons of the franchise that have aired since 2021. In February, ABC announced plans for The Golden Bachelorette, a version of the spin-off with a female lead.

After Turner and Nist announced their plans to divorce on April 12, some Golden Bachelor viewers expressed disappointment and the occasional “I told you so” on social media. The split was not unusual for the Bachelor franchise, which has produced far more break-ups than marriages.

Nist said on Good Morning America that she hoped the pair’s divorce would not discourage viewers who had been inspired by the couple. “We say, ‘Don’t give up,’” she said. “We say, ‘Stay in it, stay hopeful, because we are.’” NYTIMES