After finding love on television, The Golden Bachelor stars Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist wanted to take time to enjoy their engagement. ABC had other plans.
Variety reported that the two lovebirds sat down with the producers of the show for the Producers Guild FYC panel and explained the quick turnaround time from engagement to wedding. Their engagement went public during the November 30 Golden Bachelor finale, and then they announced their televised wedding would be on January 4, 2024. That’s fast, even with the magic of TV.
We all have a short attention span, so it makes sense to get the wedding over right after the finale. However, Theresa and Gerry didn’t intend to have this quick January wedding.
A change of plans and a messy timeline
In real life, Theresa and Gerry got engaged on August 31. We just didn’t see it until it aired on TV three months later. Now, their wedding is right around the corner, but Theresa explained it wasn’t the original plan to get married this quickly. She said, “We had to think about it and it really wasn’t the original plan to do that.”
You can’t blame them for wanting a little time to enjoy their engagement. They met on a highly-produced reality TV show. Give them a chance to enjoy each other! However, they eventually had a change of heart. They realized that it made sense to include Bachelor Nation in their big day.
Eventually, she and Gerry had a change of heart. They realized that it made sense to include Bachelor Nation in their wedding.
“When we really thought hard about it, we said, there are so many people who have been affected by the show,” Theresa explained. “We wanted to bring them along with the culmination of it and bring them into it.”
The producers wanted a quick wedding
Although Theresa and Gerry planned on taking their time with their engagement, the team behind the series always had a quick wedding in mind. Showrunner and executive producer Jason Ehlrich said they started planning the wedding the day after the engagement.
“We hit the ground running and we still are,” Jason explained. “We are moving fast and furious to make this really a celebration of the both of you and a celebration [of] the franchise as well.”
So, it doesn’t sound like Theresa and Gerry had much of a choice when scheduling this quick wedding. Perhaps that’s just the price you pay for signing up for a reality TV dating show. Either way, while the production team goes fast and furious to get this wedding turned out, we’ll be sitting curious to see how long this marriage actually lasts.
You can watch Theresa and Gerry tie the knot during the Golden Wedding, January 4 at 8/7c on ABC.
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE QUICK TURNAROUND BETWEEN GERRY AND THERESA’S ENGAGEMENT AND WEDDING? WILL YOU BE WATCHING THE GOLDEN WEDDING?
