The Golden Bachelor star Theresa Nist weighs in on divorce from Gerry Turner

All that glitters is not gold, but Theresa Nist hopes fans will keep chasing their happy ending despite her Golden Bachelor divorce.

The contestant, who earned a proposal from the ABC series' first ever senior bachelor before their televised January wedding, addressed their split after three months of marriage — and audiences' reactions to it — in an Instagram post on Monday.

Nist shared an image with a quote from Dr. Seuss that reads "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." She then included a caption, speaking to those who have reached out to her and discussing the split in more detail.

"To everyone who has expressed love, support and kindness to me I thank you from the bottom of my heart," she wrote. "You are all such wonderful human beings. It means the world to me that you took the time to reach out to me, whether in person, on the phone, by text or by direct message. You are all so kind to do so. For everyone else who is confused and angry and who does not understand, please try to find it in your heart to understand and to try a little kindness. Not just for me but for the world and for everyone you encounter."

Nist then admitted that she fully expected and hoped her marriage would last. "It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, something I never expected to happen at this point in my life and I truly thought it was going to last forever," she continued. "It turns out, even at the age of 70, you don’t know everything."

"Sometimes things don’t go the way you planned and that’s okay," she concluded. "I take so many positives away from this experience, most importantly and above all the incredible friends I now have in all of these amazing, wonderful women and in Angie and Jenny, Payton and Charlee, the producers, the production crew and so many of you. I ask you to please stay open to all the experiences, opportunities, and love that may come your way. Keep smiling, keep laughing… I will. I love you all."

Turner and Nist, whose wedding aired live on ABC on Jan. 4, announced their split on Good Morning America on Friday. “Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth, and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage," Turner said on the broadcast.

He also said that he still loves Nist, while Nist explained that their inability to agree on where they would make a home together was a large factor in the split. "We looked at homes in South Carolina, we considered New Jersey, and we just looked at homes after home, but we never got to the point where we made that decision," she said.

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