Gerry Turner got down on one knee and proposed to Theresa Nist on Thursday’s live season finale episode of The Golden Bachelor on ABC.
‘You’re not the right person for me to live with, you are the person that I can’t live without,’ said Gerry, 72, a widow and retired restaurateur from Hudson, Indiana. ‘Theresa I love you 1,000 percent. I’m never going to stop believing that every day I choose you. Will you marry me?’
‘Yes!’ said Theresa, 70, a financial services professional from Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
‘I love you,’ said Gerry, who was the subject of a recent article that claimed he has a secret past that includes a three-year relationship after the death of his wife and various blue-collar jobs.
When Theresa arrived to meet Gerry, wearing a flowing sparkly dress and diamond earrings, host Jesse Palmer, 45, walked her to the lush mountain in Costa Rica where he was waiting.
Gerry Turner got down on one knee and proposed to Theresa Nist on Thursday’s live season finale episode of The Golden Bachelor on ABC.
Gerry smiled when he saw her. Theresa said she thought she was going to live the rest of her life alone until she met him.
‘I feel like for us life isn’t over, that the best is yet to come,’ Theresa said. ‘I think you are the most wonderful man in the world. Now that I’ve found you, I don’t ever want to let you go. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’
‘You make me the happiest woman in the world,’ Theresa said.
Gerry then handed Theresa a golden rose.
‘We’re engaged!’ Theresa and Gerry screamed.
When the show started, Gerry said that he had fallen in love with both women after overnight stays with them in the Fantasy Suites.
‘I came here on this journey hoping to find a second true love in my lifetime and how this week goes determines who I propose to: Theresa or Leslie,’ Gerry said. ‘On one hand, when I’m with Leslie, we kind of get lost in each other. It’s almost like words become unnecessary. We know what the other person is feeling.’
And then there was Theresa.
The 72-year-old retired widow from Indiana and Theresa, 64, beamed while celebrating their engagement
Theresa clutched her golden rose while kissing her new fiancé Gerry
‘You’re not the right person for me to live with, you are the person that I can’t live without,’ said Gerry, 72, a widow and retired restaurateur from Hudson, Indiana . ‘Theresa I love you 1,000 percent. I’m never going to stop believing that every day I choose you. Will you marry me?’
‘You make me the happiest woman in the world,’ Theresa said
‘After our overnight, everything changed,’ Gerry said.
Gerry then met with his family, his two daughters – Jennifer and Angie – and his grandchildren, in Costa Rica to help him make his decision. He told them that he already told both women that he was in love with them. He asked them to meet with both women. The family met first with Theresa.
Jennifer and Angie pulled Theresa aside. Theresa told her about her first husband and losing him after kidney failure. Jennifer asked Theresa what she would do if Gerry got down on one knee if she was there at the end.
‘Yes, I’m there, absolutely,’ Theresa said. ‘We both at this age see that we don’t know how much time we have and we want to make the most of every moment.’
Jennifer said in a confessional that she would be in favor if her father proposed to Theresa.
‘I think it would be a great thing actually,’ Jennifer said. ‘I’d be really happy for him.’
Angie asked her father if the Fantasy Suite brought him any more clarity and if he ‘knocked the boots.’
‘We are not talking about that,’ Gerry said smiling.
Gerry said Theresa opened up even more when they had a chance to spend time in private.
Gerry’s family Jenny, Angie, Charlee and Payton met first with Theresa
‘The hugs were sweeter,’ Gerry said. ‘The conversation was easier. So I’m really encouraged at what you’re telling me about her and what you guys see.’
‘I just want to remind you that I love you,’ Gerry said to Theresa.
‘I love you,’ Theresa said.
Gerry and Theresa had one final date. Theresa was hopeful it was going to be her and Gerry in the end. The held hands and told stories about their past. Theresa said she was concerned because there was still another woman.
‘I still want you to be happy,’ Theresa said. ‘As hard as it would be for me, I wouldn’t want you to choose me if you weren’t 1,000 percent wanting me and overwhelmingly wanting me.’
‘It will be 1,000 percent or nothing,’ Gerry said.
‘At the end of the day one of us is going to get hurt,’ Theresa said in a confessional. ‘At this point, I don’t want to have a life without Gerry. This is extremely hard. I might be walking out of here completely broken-hearted.’
Gerry and Theresa had one final date before the rose ceremony
The next day, Gerry brought Leslie Fhima, 64, a fitness instructor from Golden Valley, Minnesota, to meet his family.
Leslie told them that she made Gerry laugh and that they have always had fun together. Leslie told Gerry’s grandchildren Payton and Charlee that she was crazy about their grandfather. Payton started crying seeing how much love there was between Leslie and her grandfather.
‘I loved her,’ Payton said later. ‘We had our hearts set on Theresa and now? Like, Leslie, she’s great. I got so emotional and I think that spoke volumes to me.’
Leslie then spoke to Gerry’s daughters who told her she wanted to travel and see the world with Gerry. They asked her if she was ready for a proposal. Leslie told her the thought of it scared her because she had never had a person who wanted to commit to her fully.
‘He is the man of my dreams,’ Leslie said crying. ‘He really is.’
Gerry told his daughters that he was getting stressed about his decision and wanted to make sure it was a ‘woman that I can’t live without and it’s for the rest of my life.’
In a confessional, Gerry said that things had gotten confusing and he didn’t know how he would handle it. Leslie felt that Gerry seemed a little off and it gave her anxiety. At their final date, Leslie tried to focus on the positive.
‘I could be engaged tomorrow, which would be amazing,’ Leslie said to the camera.
Gerry apologized to her for not being himself, but said that stress had been getting to him. Gerry raised his glass and toasted to ‘us’, which put Leslie in a good mood.
‘I love this guy,’ Leslie said in a confessional. ‘He’s great. I adore him and I want to start sharing a life with him.’
Leslie gave him a scrapbook of their memories. The book had photos of them and their date card.
Theresa wore a white dress as she walked out for the rose ceremony
‘And then there are plenty of pages for more,’ Leslie said.
Gerry told her that the gift left him speechless. The two kissed and hugged.
‘I can’t imagine being without you now,’ Leslie said. ‘I love you very very much.’
‘That’s such a special sentiment,’ Gerry said.
Gerry hugged her as she cried.
‘Be happy,’ Gerry said looking at her.
‘I want you to be happy too,’ Leslie said.
‘I think it’s time for me to go,’ Gerry said.
A studio audience in Los Angeles watched the finale on screen with interviews on a stage
Gerry hugged her at the door and cried.
‘Is there something you want to tell me?’ Leslie said.
Gerry shook his head no.
‘No, just that I have a tough decision to make,’ Gerry said. ‘It’s harder than I ever thought possible.’
Gerry sat down on the stairs crying. Leslie in her room was also crying.
‘I’m definitely not confident now,’ Leslie said. ‘I know why he was off today. I know exactly why.’
Gerry decided he needed to go back and talk to Leslie. Gerry told her he had made a decision about how he wanted to go about things.
‘And I have fallen in love with Theresa,’ Gerry said. ‘And that’s the direction I’m going to take.’
‘Okay,’ Leslie said. ‘So everything you told me the other night was a lie.’
‘No, it wasn’t a lie,’ Gerry said.
‘Okay,’ Leslie said. ‘So everything you told me the other night was a lie’
‘Yeah it was,’ Leslie said. ‘Everything you told the other night was a complete and utter lie, Gerry.’
‘No, because at that time that was the truth,’ Gerry said. ‘Things have changed. Things have evolved.’
Gerry told Leslie he was so sorry. Leslie cried and Gerry held her.
‘It’s typical,’ Leslie said. ‘This is my life. This is the way it always goes.’
Gerry told her not to think like that.
‘Gerry it doesn’t matter, no offense, but I can think whatever the f*** I want,’ Leslie said crying. ‘I’m heartbroken once again but now I have to di it in front of the whole world to see once again how broken I am. How no one chose me…the other night you made it sound like you chose me. You said things to me that made me think that this was going to be it.’
Leslie said it was mind-boggling to her that he could tell her he loved her and then 12-hours later change his mind. Leslie said the only good thing was that she didn’t have to put on that $60,000 dress with the diamond earrings and get on the platform and be completely embarrassed.
‘And that I thank you for,’ Leslie said.
‘I’m sorry,’ Gerry said.
‘There is nothing you can say or do that can make me feel better,’ Leslie said.
‘All right, I’ll see myself out,’ Gerry said.
‘There is nothing you can say or do that can make me feel better,’ Leslie said
‘I’m tired of putting myself out there,’ Leslie said to the camera. ‘Time is running out.’
Gerry met with Jesse and told him that he was not okay.
‘I took a really good person and f***ing broke their heart,’ Gerry said crying . ‘I hate myself and I hate everything right now. I think the only time I felt worse in my life was when my wife passed away. And this is a god**** close second.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Jesse said.
‘She’s a good person and I f***ed her over,’ Gerry said.
Leslie then joined Jesse on stage during the live show. The crowd cheered for her. Jesse asked her how she was feeling after watching the show back.
‘I took a really good person and f***ing broke their heart,’ Gerry said crying . ‘I hate myself and I hate everything right now. I think the only time I felt worse in my life was when my wife passed away. And this is a god**** close second.’
Leslie then joined Jesse on stage during the live show
‘I was devastated,’ Leslie said.
Leslie said she had fallen in love with Gerry and that it was hard. Leslie said after the overnights that she was 100 percent certain that she was his girl. Leslie said she felt blindsided and had picked out a dress and wrote her vows. Jesse then brought out Gerry and Leslie gave him a hug.
‘I was myself with you completely,’ Leslie said. ‘I wanted to give you that till death do us part so bad.’
Leslie said she really fell in love with his integrity. Leslie said she would never share what he said in the overnights but that his words gave her a 100 percent certainty that ‘she was his girl and we were going to get engaged.’
Leslie said she was blindsided and wasn’t sure how it all suddenly changed. Gerry said he was so sorry and that he never wanted to hurt anyone. He said he got caught up in moments and that he believed she was his person until he suddenly realized she wasn’t.
‘It didn’t really go wrong, Leslie,’ Gerry said. ‘It was just better with someone else.’
‘I was devastated,’ Leslie said
‘It didn’t really go wrong, Leslie,’ Gerry said. ‘It was just better with someone else’
‘I don’t know if I accept your apology but I understand it,’ Leslie said.
‘I had to find that one person that I couldn’t live without and I did that,’ Gerry said. ‘It was my journey and I had to see it through till the end.’
Gerry and Theresa came out to the live show holding hands. Theresa said she was nervous and wasn’t sure that Gerry was going to propose to her on the final day up until the final moment when he did. Jesse asked Gerry if something happened on the overnight date that ‘just changed everything.’
‘What I want to know is Jesse, how often do you ask your parents what happened on overnight dates?’ Gerry said. ‘Since everyone asked, there were moments in conversations that were subtle realizations.’
‘If he’s not going to tell you exactly what happened in the fantasy suite, I’ll tell you,’ Theresa said. ‘I knocked his boots off.’
Gerry laughed. Theresa said she hoped people realize that there is no age limit on love. Theresa said she now talks on the phone with Gerry each night for hours. Jesse then announced as a surprise that the show was sending them on a special vacation cruise to Italy.
‘We can use that as our honeymoon trip,’ Gerry said. ‘Because we are going to get married, we are going to do it as quickly as we can because at our age we don’t have a lot of time to waste.’
Joey Graziadei, 28, the next star of The Bachelor, was in the studio audience and provided a preview of the upcoming 28th season that will premiere in January.