“The Golden Bachelor”'s Theresa Nist Says 'You Can't Prepare for' Watching Your Husband-to-Be Dating Other Women

The financial services professional said "yes" to Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner's proposal in last month's finale and will marry him on live TV next month

Even though contestants know that going on The Bachelor means standing by as the man you love explores other relationships, that doesn’t make it easy.

Theresa Nist, who got engaged to Gerry Turner in last month’s Golden Bachelor finale, said on Monday that she watched the show back with her daughter, son-in-law and her three grandsons.

“And I was horrified every time. ’Oh my God, what do I look like?’ But I would get over that, and the next night I would watch it alone,” Nist, 70, said during a For Your Consideration panel — which also included her fiancé and executive producers Bennett Graebner, Claire Freeland and Jason Ehrlich — at The Times Center in New York City.

Related: The Most Romantic Things Golden Bachelor Fiancés Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist Have Said About Each Other

The financial services professional also touched base with Turner, 72, throughout the season.

“Gerry and I were talking on the phone all the time, so he prepared me for things, but there's some things he just couldn't prepare me for,” Nist said. “There's some things I had to just... I cried over a few things, but no, not that I didn't know anything that was going to happen, but yes, a little hard sometimes.”

Nist said she considers herself “a very open-minded person,” but the show taught her “how I could really take a step back and allow him to explore it with every other woman and to really cheer them on and say, ‘Great. I want you to go on a date.’”

She continued, “I really wanted Gerry to find the right person, and I only wanted it to be me if it was right for it to be me. And so yeah, I learned that I could do that and allow that process to happen, and I think that's important too when going into a process like this. It's difficult, but necessary.”

Related: Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner Still Can't Bear to See Himself Rejecting Women: 'Soul-Crushing'

The New Jersey resident said she “loved” her fellow contestants, which made seeing their hearts break throughout the season difficult. “I loved all of them and still do,” she said.

While previously speaking to PEOPLE, Nist said she found watching Faith Martin leave after hometowns particularly upsetting.

“It wasn't easy watching Faith cry,” Nist said. “That was really hard for both of us. We really love her and we want her to be so happy. She was one of my best friends in the house, so that was difficult.”

Related: Gerry Turner Says the Women on The Golden Bachelor Got Along Except One 'Insignificant Incident' (Exclusive)

Nist admitted that she “wanted to just cry by myself” after watching her future fiancé say goodbye to Martin, 61. “I kind of shut him out,” she admitted.

Still, “I really wanted him to go through the entire journey and explore it,” Nist told PEOPLE.
“I understood the process. I knew that's what he had to do. I was in a process where he was going to be with other women. I get it.”

Since she’d formed strong friendships with her castmates, Nist expressed genuine happiness for them when they went on dates with Turner throughout the season — which confused the retired restaurateur.

“I was very happy for Ellen when she had her date. Over the moon, jumping for joy when Leslie did and the same for Faith. I really was truly happy for them,” Nist said. “When he saw the episodes back and he saw how incredibly happy I really was on film, he said, ‘Wow, you really were happy for them. Why would you be when you wanted me for yourself?’”

It would all worked out in the end for Nist, but even going into proposal day, she didn’t know where she stood in the process.

“Not once did I think I was the only person,” Nist said of finalist Leslie Fhima being eliminated before the last day of filming. “I didn't find out until later.”

Related: Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist Share Their Vision for Their January Wedding: 'It's Going to be Spectacular' (Exclusive)

The couple will put their love lives on TV once again when they say “I do” in a live televised wedding on ABC next month.

“​​When you're in your 20s and you put something off for a year, it's a very small percentage of your life,” Turner told PEOPLE. “In your 70s, the clock ticks faster. And I'm 100 percent certain I found the right girl for me. So it's like, why not?

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The Golden Bachelor can be streamed on Hulu and The Golden Wedding will air Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Read the original article on People.