Golden Bachelor’s Theresa Nist ‘Cried Her Eyes Out’ When Leslie Fhima Was Eliminated

The Golden Bachelor star Theresa Nist admitted she cried when her fiancé, Gerry Turner, sent Leslie Fhima home on the reality show.

While appearing on the Tuesday, December 26, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, Theresa, 70, revealed she was in the process of watching the season for the first time and said it was difficult to see Gerry, 72, send Faith Martin home.

"I really haven't seen the final episode yet, so I've yet to see Leslie and that was a really difficult moment for me,” Theresa said, referring to the season’s runner up. “I cried my eyes out that night."

While Leslie, ?65, didn’t get Gerry’s final rose, she previously said she was surprised that Theresa made it to the final two.

“I was shocked [when Faith got eliminated],” the TV personality admitted on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast on December 5. “And I wish I could have [held] her and cried with her a little bit.”

During the show, Gerry told all three of the final contestants that he loved them. After noting she knew he told Faith, 60, that he loved her, Leslie said she didn’t know he had told Theresa the same.

Not only did Leslie weigh in on Gerry’s other relationships, but she opened up about feeling blindsided by the leading man following their fantasy suite date. “We made plans with me for [the] future,” she revealed about their conversation, which wasn’t filmed. “He said kind of, like, ‘Save the date, this is what we’re going to do. I can’t wait for us. [In] two more days, we’ll be done with this [and] be together, start our life.’ Did he say, ‘Will you marry me?’ in there? No. But he all but said that. I would’ve been happy with just, ‘I love you,’ but he took it to a different level.”

Leslie explained she felt confident that they would get engaged following his comments. “He didn’t want to leave [the next morning],” she said during the podcast appearance. “That’s why I wasn’t worried that he was going on a date [with Theresa]. I just knew that he had to get through the motions of it. And I mean, I was 100 percent sure that I was it. He didn’t say, ‘I have such a hard decision to make.’ Nothing like that.”

Despite things not working out between Gerry and Leslie, the retired restaurateur is currently in the process of planning his wedding to Theresa. The pair aren’t wasting any time and will wed during a televised ceremony on January 4, 2024.

Theresa’s daughter, Jen Woolston, previously teased the upcoming nuptials while exclusively speaking to Life & Style in December.

“First of all, I work in weddings. I love weddings. And then this is like the ultimate wedding you know that Mindy Weiss is planning and everything,” Jen shared. “There’s a lot of decisions to make pretty much every day. And you know, I can’t even imagine what it’s going to feel like to actually be there and see it all come to life. Even though we’re in the loop, I think it’s going to feel sort of like a big surprise, really.”