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"Golden Bachelor" Gerry Turner and his wife, Theresa Nist, who won him over on the first season of the latest "Bachelor" franchise, are divorcing just three months after they were married on live television.
Speaking to "Good Morning America" in an interview on Friday, the couple announced their divorce and suggested that their "living situation" could not be worked out.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation and so forth, and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Turner, 74, said.
"We have received so much love and support from so many people who watch the 'Golden Bachelor' and I don’t think we can tell you how many people told us it gave them so much hope,” 70-year-old Nist said. "We want none of that to change for anybody."
The couple's wedding in January had aired on TV, as had their courtship on the show. Viewers were won over by Turner, the first "Golden Bachelor," and the women who competed for his heart, and the season helped inject some warmth into the flagging franchise.
In the interview Friday, Turner said they were both dedicated to their families and that they ultimately felt it was best for them to "live apart."
The couple said they are still in love and intend to stay in each other's lives. But the speedy dissolution of their marriage raises questions once again about whether the show's formula — confining contestants in a carefully crafted bubble for weeks of courtship and then abruptly ejecting the winners out into the real world as a functional couple — is really achieving what it purports to do.
At least their relationship lasted longer than some other "Bachelor" winners.