Theresa Nist, a former contestant on “The Golden Bachelor,” has claimed that her ex-husband and fellow reality show alum Gerry Turner once threatened to kill her during their relationship.
Speaking on Tuesday’s episode of the “Dear Shandy” podcast, Nist recalled an incident that occurred while visiting Turner at his lakefront home.
She said the exchange took place during a walk near Pretty Lake, where Turner pointed to a shed on the property.
“We took a walk around this lake called Pretty Lake and we were coming to the end of it and he said — this is really bizarre — He said, ‘You see that shed up there?'” Nist said. “I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Well, that’s where I’m going to hide your body after I kill you and chop you up.'”
Nist, 72, said Turner, 74, appeared serious when he made the comment.
“He wasn’t laughing,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Well, if this was his idea of a joke, that was pretty dark humor.'”
The former reality star added that she sensed hostility behind the remark.
“I just felt like there was animosity in that statement that was underlying,” she said. “Like, maybe if he could have gotten rid of me somehow.”
While she does not believe Turner would have acted on the comment, Nist said the episode reflected deeper tension in their relationship.
“No, I don’t think that was true. It’s not true, but it just spoke to an underlying feeling about me,” she said.
Nist and Turner met on Season 1 of ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor” in 2023, where Turner proposed during the finale.
The couple married the following year in a televised ceremony but announced their divorce three months later.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth, and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Turner said during a joint appearance on “Good Morning America” at the time.
After the split, Nist urged fans of the show not to lose faith in finding love later in life.
“We have received so much love and support from so many people who watched ‘The Golden Bachelor,’ and I don’t think we can tell you how many people told us that it gave them so much hope,” she said. “We want none of that to change for anybody.”
Both had been widowed previously and maintained separate homes after marrying — Nist in New Jersey and Turner in Indiana — to remain close to their children.
Nist said they considered relocating together but never settled on a shared home.
“We looked at homes in South Carolina, we considered New Jersey, and we just looked at homes after home, but we never got to the point where we made that decision,” she said.
Turner later wrote in his 2025 memoir, “Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss, and Reality TV,” that he had felt “trapped” in the marriage.
Nist told Us Weekly last month that she was saddened by his comments.
“I wish he had said something and just ended it,” she said. “But at least now I understand why he was so hurtful to me so many times. And I will say this: Those in glass houses should not throw stones.
“I do wish him all the best.”
Turner is now engaged to Lana Sutton. The couple announced their engagement in October.
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