The Golden Bachelor’s Faith Martin is opening up about navigating her “perplexing” dynamic with newlyweds Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist.
“Gerry and Theresa and I would talk on the phone, when it was out that they were together, and I knew ahead of time. [I] love them both, and Theresa and Gerry and I are very transparent with our feelings,” Faith, 61, shared on the Tuesday, January 9, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast, which was taped after Gerry, 72, and Theresa, 70, tied the knot in a live TV special. “Theresa would be like, ‘He loves you so much,’ and I’m like, ‘I love him, too, and I love you. And we’re gonna be friends for life, right?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah,’ so we call and check in with each other all the time.”
Despite feeling “so excited” for the happy couple, Faith admitted there have been times when she “had to go in the bathroom and cry for a little bit,” adding, “And then, I would come back out and I would tell Theresa, I’d text her, ‘Tell me how happy you are and how great this is gonna be, ‘cause then, my heart will heal.’”
Faith said every conversation she’s had with Gerry and Theresa since The Golden Bachelor wrapped has helped her heart grow “more and more healed,” but being friendly with her ex and his now-wife still has its challenges.
“It’s still a little bit hard because I was so in love with him, and I don’t know that I would ever find those qualities in another man. So, I felt the loss, for sure, but I’m super excited for them,” she added.
Faith was one of several stars who attended the couple’s televised Golden Wedding ceremony on Thursday, January 4. Faith made her reality TV debut when The Golden Bachelor premiered in September 2023, earning Gerry’s first impression rose. Despite building a strong connection with Gerry and introducing him to her family in Washington state, she was eliminated after the hometown dates.
“Right now, I’m numb. It’s going to be a while before I figure it out. If I ever figure it out,” Faith said in a confessional after she was sent home. “I feel like we connected on a level where I was ready to marry the dude. I wanted so much more for me. I wanted so much more for my kids. … Maybe it’s just not in the cards for me.”
While she didn’t get her happy ending on TV, Faith revealed on Tuesday’s podcast that being on the show helped open her heart to new romantic possibilities. “It allowed me to feel again and to know that I had a heart that wasn’t dead inside, that I actually could muster up those feelings and have that in my heart, made me think, ‘OK, I am still alive. I just got to look at it differently,’” she told Trista Sutter, the OG Bachelorette, who was filling in for “Almost Famous” hosts Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti.
Faith even teased that she’s seen some action in her love life post-Golden Bachelor. “I haven’t been on a date yet or anything, but I have flirted a little bit,” she said. “I have somebody that I was really, really flirting with a little, and I actually was feeling like, ‘Yeah, it would be so fun to meet up with that person.’”
While Sutter, 51, prodded Faith to share details about her mystery man, Faith said she was “not gonna say” how they met as he “might be” someone Bachelor Nation knows.
