The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner has revealed why he tricked Theresa Nist at the Final Rose Ceremony of his season.

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When Gerry and Theresa reunited on a platform amid a green landscape for the Final Rose Ceremony in Costa Rica, Gerry momentarily let Theresa think that he was going to pick Leslie Fhima as his winner instead.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Gerry recalled of that important final speech to his future fiancee, "I kind of said it wrong," during an interview with Access Hollywood.

"The line was supposed to be, 'You're not the person that I can live with,' [but] I said, 'You're not the person for me,'" Gerry recalled in his joint interview with Theresa.

Theresa laughed and shared, "I was like, 'Oh, somebody take me away!' I was backing off. I said, 'Oh my gosh! That's it!'"

Gerry admitted it was an "awful" blunder on his part, especially since he was about to propose marriage to his perfect match.

"I tried to recoup quickly, and the pause on the show is longer than the actual pause, because I quickly said, 'You're the person I can't live without,'" Gerry clarified.

Theresa interjected, however, and said, "It felt that long."

Gerry laughed and admitted, "I thought she was going to faint!"

"I was about to faint!" Theresa confirmed. "I really was. I was slinking away. I don't know if you could see that, [Gerry]."

"Oh, I could see it," Gerry responded. "Yeah."

But Theresa certainly had the happy ending she'd been hoping for, and then she watched "every single episode" of the season back with her daughter, son-in-law, and three grandsons.
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"It was horrifying at times," Theresa said with a laugh. "Well, even just seeing myself -- I couldn't take it. I said, 'Can't they see I look ugly there?!' And I go, 'Oh, that orange lipstick! Oh my god, this is horrible!'"

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)  

Theresa said she watched every episode with her family and then she'd "watch it again all alone."

Theresa had to convince herself to be less critical and not be so hard on herself, which probably helped her to give Gerry grace as well.

"We had discussed all of the interactions [Gerry] had with the other women. Logically, you can say, 'Accept it.' But when you actually see it, it affects you," Theresa admitted.

"But I was extremely open-minded the entire time. After we had our date, I wanted to step back and allow him time to fully explore this experience with every other women... So I was happy when [the other women] had dates."

Gerry went on to compliment Theresa for being "the most unselfish, non-jealous person" he's ever met in his life.

"When we had conversations I thought were going to be very sensitive and perhaps hurtful, she was open and optimistic about it. It was so refreshing!" Gerry gushed about his fiancee.

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Walking into the Final Rose Ceremony of The Golden Bachelor, Theresa was hoping for a fairy-tale proposal with Gerry down on one knee, which is something her late husband, Billy, hadn't done for her.

When Theresa and Gerry stood face to face on the platform, Theresa said how love isn't just for the young and she was so "madly in love" with Gerry. Theresa said how life wasn't over for them and the best was yet to come.

Theresa told Gerry that she considered him to be the most wonderful man in the world and so she never wanted to let him go.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

The Golden Bachelor star, in turn, said he and Theresa had so much in common but he woke up earlier that day with "mixed feelings."

"I got to the point with the questions I had asked myself about how I got here and [whether she's] the right girl, and I came to the realization that you're not the right person for me to live with," Gerry told Theresa.

Theresa suddenly appeared shocked and crushed -- until Gerry noted, "You're the person I can't live without!"

Theresa and Gerry hugged tight, and Theresa seemed completely ecstatic and relieved. She even shouted of the trick, "That was so good!"

Gerry then proposed marriage to Theresa and presented her with a ring as well as a real golden rose.

Gerry and Theresa are currently planning a January 4, 2024 wedding as well as a move to South Carolina, but he has come under fire for allegedly having -- and not being honest on the show or in the press about -- a live-in girlfriend of nearly three years prior to applying for The Golden Bachelor.

The recent allegations that Gerry had a three-year, live-in ex-girlfriend, if accurate, contradict his heart-wrenching The Golden Bachelor portrayal as a grieving widower who had dated very little since the sudden July 2017 death of Toni, his wife of 43 years.

Gerry has since addressed the allegations against him, and Theresa also broke her silence on the unflattering report about Gerry's alleged secret past.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.