The Golden Bachelor couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist have revealed the next step for them and where they plan to live now that the show is over and they've gone public with their engagement.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gerry, an Iowa native who currently lives on a lake in Indiana, and Theresa, who currently resides in New Jersey, have revealed that they plan to leave home, move in together, and start fresh in a new state -- down South.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Gerry and Theresa, whose engagement aired on The Golden Bachelor's finale on November 30, will be relocating to Charleston, South Carolina.
"One of the things that I think fate played a hand in is the possibility of where we might wind up living," Gerry, 72, told People in a joint interview with Theresa.
ADVERTISEMENT
"For the last couple of years, when my family gets together, I've talked about moving to South Carolina, and it's an idea I've toyed with. And then in conversation with Theresa, a private moment, she's saying, 'Well, yeah, my son lives near Charleston in South Carolina.'"
Gerry recalled, "And all of a sudden it's like, 'There's a big problem that is gone.' The issue of compromising on where to live and how to reconcile families and all of that is no longer an issue."
The Golden Bachelor star and his 70-year-old fiancee hope their children and grandchildren will visit them often in South Carolina.
After all, the pair shared with People how their daughters have already bonded and become like sisters.
"We want to have a house that's so inviting that everyone would want to come," Theresa said. "Maybe a pool so they all want to come and have fun."
ADVERTISEMENT
The couple confirmed how they've already had conversations about when they'll be packing up their belongings. Gerry said while Theresa is the "more patient" person in their relationship, they're both in no rush to start their next chapter down South.
"We've narrowed it down to a time window, but that's always in flux," the retired restaurateur explained of the moving process.
"We have two homes to sell. We have other events that we're going to have to deal with and so forth."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
And for the very near future, Gerry and the financial services professional will be bringing their families together to celebrate Hanukkah.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We'll have a holiday dinner together with everyone," Gerry shared.
Gerry boasted about how he and Theresa view life in a similar manner as well as their finances.
"Financially, we're the same," Gerry noted. "The way we handle money is the same."
And Theresa clarified how that means the lovebirds are "somewhat frugal."
In a separate interview with the Los Angeles Times, Gerry reiterated how he had been thinking about a move to South Carolina for quite some time.
ADVERTISEMENT
"For the last couple of years at Christmastime, my family and I would talk about how the fall chores at the lake house were getting too much for me to handle by myself," Gerry said.
Gerry said in one of the conversations he had with Theresa toward the end of The Golden Bachelor process, he learned that Theresa not only has a son in South Carolina, but she has three grandsons as well.
"All of a sudden, the possible obstacle of geography melted away. Maybe it's fate that really helped us in that department, but it really lifted a burden off both of us on what that compromise would be," Gerry said.
Before viewers even saw Gerry's happily-ever-after ending play out on TV, The Golden Bachelor became a cultural phenomenon and Gerry turned into an overnight celebrity.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
But when asked if he'll continue to seek stardom or just live a quiet life with Theresa, Gerry replied, "I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive."
"I can have a great, quiet life with Theresa and still look at the aspirations and ambitions that may be out there," he elaborated.
"But I will say this, I am absolutely going to savor every moment until I get to that altar and say my 'I do's.' I want every single moment to be as joyful for her as it is for me, and I never want to look back and feel I hurried through anything. We'll deal with the aspirations after that."
Gerry gushed about how he's feeling pure "joy" after The Golden Bachelor finale, and he and Theresa are looking forward to their wedding on January 4, 2024, which will be televised on ABC.
"There's a lot of relief, a lot of anticipation about what's going to happen in the future, now that we can openly talk and plan things together," Gerry told the LA Times.
"[My] expectations were certainly quite different than what ended up happening, but for the most part in a good way. I certainly entered determined to find my one last true person, and I definitely accomplished that goal. That was the most important."
ADVERTISEMENT
Gerry concluded that he and Theresa "just make a perfect pair" and they're "better as a couple than [they] are individually."
Gerry selected Theresa as his The Golden Bachelor winner over his runner-up Leslie Fhima, who was absolutely devastated by her breakup with Gerry.
Gerry and Theresa, however, were able to understand and relate to each other on a deep level when discussing loss and past trauma. Gerry also described how he's drawn to Theresa's dry sense of humor and how she's a strong person with a good heart.
Gerry's wife, Toni, had passed away in 2017 from a bacterial infection after 43 years of marriage. Theresa lost her husband, Billy, in 2014 from kidney failure after 42 years of marriage.
Gerry, however, has come under fire recently for allegedly having had -- and not being honest about -- a live-in girlfriend of nearly three nears after Toni passed away.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!