\n<\/p>\n
During his wedding ceremony at a picturesque resort in the Southern California desert, Gerry Turner made his way down an aisle lined with roses.<\/p>\n
Then he turned around and walked back.<\/p>\n
The crowd murmured. Cold feet? No, the redo was for the cameras broadcasting the wedding on ABC. \u201cFor real this time!\u201d Mr. Turner mouthed to guests when walked by again a few moments later.<\/p>\n
If both versions had aired, viewers might not have minded: Mr. Turner has just about nominated himself as the face of second chances. On Thursday night, the 72-year-old widower and star of \u201cThe Golden Bachelor,\u201d<\/a> ABC\u2019s dating spinoff featuring older cast members, married Theresa Nist, 70, whom he had met on the show.<\/p>\n The couple\u2019s love story may have been aided by a casting team and the otherwise opaque machinations of reality TV. It may have been parsed by tabloids, evaluated in franchise ratings and subjected to debate over whether the show fought or perpetuated television\u2019s uneasiness about aging<\/a>. But Mr. Turner and Ms. Nist say that at its core lies something real.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a shell wedding,\u201d Mr. Turner said as the couple sat shoulder to shoulder through an interview with The New York Times earlier in the week. It\u2019s an \u201cactual, honest-to-gosh\u201d commitment, he said, complete with a marriage certificate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The ceremony was held before 150 guests and far more TV viewers at La Quinta Resort and Club, a Mission-style estate where cameras dangled from palm trees and a faux grass carpet had been rolled over an outdoor patio. Guests sitting on white couches draped themselves in pashminas as the sun set over Joshua Tree National Park.<\/p>\n An outdoor fireplace crackled; a camera drone buzzed overhead.<\/p>\n The wedding also aired as a live two-hour special on ABC \u2014 perhaps a risky bet given the number of Mr. Turner\u2019s ex-girlfriends in attendance. Among them was the wedding\u2019s officiant, Susan Noles, who is ordained through the Universal Life Church and owns Nuptials by Noles. Leslie Fhima, whose breakup with Mr. Turner comprised much of the season finale, was also among a handful of other guests who had been contestants on the season.<\/p>\n Ms. Nist descended the aisle on the arm of her son, Tommy Nist. \u201cWe have so much fun together,\u201d she told Mr. Turner during her vows. \u201cWe laugh until we cry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n She hoped they would continue to do so \u201cfor the rest of the days we have left on this earth \u2014 which could be another hour.\u201d<\/p>\n The pair met five months before their wedding day, when Ms. Nist and 21 other women had emerged from limousines to vie for some combination of screen time and Mr. Turner\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Turner, a retiree from Indiana, said he had signed on as the show\u2019s lead in part to show that people his age can still experience desire and transformation<\/a>. Ms. Nist, a financial services professional from Shrewsbury, N.J., said her daughter had encouraged her to apply.<\/p>\n They soon bonded over their romantic histories. Both had gotten married young to spouses they adored, and had both lived through their partners\u2019 deaths. On camera, they split a milkshake, discussed grief and met each other\u2019s grandchildren. Less than a month after they had met, Mr. Turner proposed<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think as you get older, you also realize you\u2019re more confident in your choices,\u201d Mr. Turner said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Still, when producers began discussing the idea of a televised wedding shortly after filming wrapped, the couple waffled. Mr. Turner said he worried Ms. Nist would have to speed through preparations like she had for her first wedding, held during a brief break in her husband\u2019s deployment in the Vietnam War. Only once she had agreed to the compressed timeline did they move forward, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ms. Nist found time to try on Badgley Mischka dresses with her daughter and maid of honor, Jen Woolston, and Mr. Turner\u2019s daughters, Angie Warner and Jenny Young. Her bachelorette party was held at a mansion in the hills of Hollywood.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were beautiful gifts, Chippendale dancers,\u201d Ms. Nist said. \u201cMaybe some bar shots.\u201d (Mr. Turner passed on having a bachelor party, describing his first one as \u201cbrutal.\u201d)<\/p>\n One of those dancers was present \u2014 although his shirt was not \u2014 on the dance floor at a wedding reception held 20 yards or so from the ceremony. A group of uninvited onlookers had gathered outside the venue walls, hoping to glimpse cast members from the \u201cBachelor\u201d franchise.<\/p>\n Kerry Leffel, a member of Mr. Turner\u2019s pickleball league in Indiana, posed for a picture with Faith Martin, a front-runner whom Mr. Turner had sent home late in the season. Since he had not yet met Ms. Nist, he reserved judgment on her pickleball skills.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Leffel said his friend had come across fairly on TV, adding, \u201cHe wears his heart on his sleeve.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Other viewers were more critical after a<\/a> Hollywood Reporter article<\/a> published in November claimed Mr. Turner had misrepresented his romantic past. Mr. Turner first said he was not focused on the article\u2019s accuracy<\/a>; this week he called it \u201cfully fictitious.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Nist said that both of them were learning about the hazards of being in the public eye. \u201cAt first I used to be upset about it, that people were saying things that were so wrong about you,\u201d she said. Now, she said, \u201cI almost find it amusing.\u201d<\/p>\n The newlyweds are still working out the details of their lives together. Mr. Turner has warmed to New Jersey, Ms. Nist said, but they are also considering a move to South Carolina near her son. They hope to explore both areas after their honeymoon in Italy.<\/p>\n And they plan to take a step back from life onscreen, starting on their wedding night. After a raucous performance of Journey\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019\u201d had signaled the end of the live telecast, the couple retreated to a second, more intimate reception. Family and friends were welcome; TV cameras were not.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When<\/strong> Jan. 4, 2024<\/p>\n Where<\/strong> La Quinta Resort and Club, La Quinta, Calif.<\/p>\n A Prime Time Proposal <\/strong>During a cocktail hour before the ceremony, Brayden Bowers, a contestant on the most recent season of \u201cThe Bachelorette,\u201d proposed to Christina Mandrell, a former contestant on \u201cThe Bachelor.\u201d \u201cThis is why we got our nails done?\u201d she asked, after accepting.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t Forget the Grandkids <\/strong>The couple\u2019s grandchildren figured into the wedding. Mr. Turner\u2019s two granddaughters, Payton and Charlee, were junior bridesmaids. Five of Ms. Nist\u2019s grandsons \u2014 Dempsey, Leo, Brandon, Brody and Braxton \u2014 were junior groomsmen. The youngest of the bunch, 6-year-old Henry, was ring bearer.<\/p>\n Music Lessons<\/strong> Ms. Nist took the lead on choosing the day\u2019s music, which included \u201cYou Are the Best Thing\u201d by Ray LaMontagne and \u201cBorn to Run\u201d by Bruce Springsteen. <\/strong>\u201cShe\u2019s been very good at telling me what I like about these songs,\u201d Mr. Turner said.<\/p>\n Cocktails Galore<\/strong> Guests could choose from various signature drinks, including a spicy margarita titled \u201cBirthday Suit,\u201d a nod to Ms. Nist\u2019s entrance to the Bachelor Mansion on her 70th birthday. She introduced herself to Mr. Turner by unraveling a black robe to reveal a tan bodysuit beneath.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nOn This Day<\/span><\/h3>\n