Watch: Golden Bachelor's Theresa Nist Slams Gerry Turner's Book AllegationsLeslie Fhima is following the golden rule when discussing Gerry Turner's new book. After the Golden Bachelor alum released his memoir The Golden Years earlier this month, his season's runner-up-who Gerry broke up with before proposing to Theresa Nist-shared what she thought of the tell-all. "I have not read it, I've read excerpts from it," she admitted during a Nov. 6 appearance on 2 Black Girls, 1 Rose podcast. "I don't know if I want to read it." However, Gerry had already sent his ex part of the book before it was published. "I have read the chapter about me," Leslie noted. "He actually sent me the chapter a long time ago. He just wanted to get my 'OK' on it, and I thought that was very respectful. I read it. I'm not sure. To be honest, he has nothing bad to say about me." Indeed, Leslie noted that while Gerry may have had a lot of material from his relationship with Theresa, the former reality show couple had already "made peace" with each other. readGolden Bachelor's Leslie Fhima Hospitalized on Her 65th Birthday"I want everyone to be happy," she explained. "I want everyone to find their person and to be happy and that's really what I'm about." And while Leslie's fellow contestant and pal Theresa has publicly shared her qualms with the memoir, the fitness instructor doesn't plan on adding her own fuel to the fire. "I told Theresa this, I will support my friend," Leslie said. "I adore her. I love her, but it's not my fight. I don't know if they're in a fight, I don't want to be cold but it's not my thing, but I will support her and listen to her and I will give her advice."John Fleenor / Contributor / GETTY IMAGESAs she put it, "I kind of want to be a little Switzerland, because it's not my fight." Theresa, meanwhile, has not kept quiet about her regrets when it comes to her relationship with Gerry, especially as he details it in his book. "You did me no favors by marrying a woman that you did not want to marry," Theresa explained during a Nov. 4 episode of the Dear Shandy podcast. "You should have called off the wedding. No matter that we were on TV, that didn't matter. This was our lives." For more of Gerry's perspective, keep reading for his memoir's biggest bombshells...
Brian Bowen Smith / Contributor / GETTY IMAGESGerry Turner's Wife Toni Hid a Medical DiagnosisEven more devastating for Gerry Turner than losing high school sweetheart Toni-mom to his daughters Jenny Young and Angie Warner-to a bacterial infection mere weeks after they moved into their dream lakefront home in 2017 was his discovery weeks after her death that she'd been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. "My mind reeled with what-ifs," he detailed in his 2025 memoir Golden Years: What I've Learned From Love, Loss, and Reality TV. "Untreated or unmanaged diabetes stresses the body, particularly the kidneys. Had Toni had the means to live longer, but been undone in the end by the belief that any kind of whining was frivolous? Had I somehow contributed to this mentality? Why hadn't she felt comfortable confiding in me about something as important as having diabetes?" Though he couldn't bear to remain in the Indiana home they chose together, he hung a photo featuring his bride of 43 years in the walk-in closet of his new spread "so every morning when I get dressed, I'm greeted by a glamour shot of her."Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty ImagesYes, Gerry Turner Did Meet a Future Girlfriend at His Wife's FuneralThough he took issue with a 2023 piece in The Hollywood Reporter that outlined his various post-retirement odd jobs and romances that he hadn't disclosed on The Golden Bachelor, instead claiming he hadn't dated in four-plus decades, "There was one detail the story got right," he acknowledged in his book. "I had met the woman on the receiving line at Toni's funeral." Going on to date and even live with the unnamed girlfriend, "We had a connection," he shared, "but I pursued a relationship far too quickly. Even if I had been in a good headspace, which I wasn't, I hadn't dated since I was 18! That alone should have been a cue to take things slowly. I took the opposite course."Disney/Brian Bowen SmithGerry Turner Thought That Joan Vassos "Could Be the One"Eventual Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos' decision to leave the show as her daughter dealt with postpartum struggles remained a thorn in Gerry's side. While he respected her choice, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't crushed," he admitted. "Here was a woman I really thought could be the One. It was very, very deflating." Months after her dramatic exit, she shipped him a copy of an Annie Leibovitz coffee table book he'd admired during their one-on-one. So, yes, there was a piece of him hoping he could still be in the picture. But when he visited her as she handed out the roses, "I was happy Joan felt positive about how her journey was going," he wrote, "but I was also a little sad for myself, as a small piece of my heart remaine