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When The Golden Bachelor’s inaugural couple, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist, tie the knot live on ABC this Thursday, January 4, it won’t be host Jesse Palmer who marries them (though he will be hosting the two-hour special). The network has confirmed to Glamour exclusively that fan-favorite contestant, hairdresser, and meatball master Susan Noles will do the honors.
The Philadelphia native (and Kris Jenner look-alike) has been officiating for over a decade, so when Gerry and Theresa asked her to marry them, it was an immediate yes. “The happy couple came up with the idea because we became so close during the show,” Susan tells Glamour. “Gerry’s my buddy and now Teresa is my girlfriend, so why not? I never asked them why, to tell you the truth. But I’m really glad they did.”
Thursday’s live ceremony will mark plenty of firsts for the franchise, but especially for Susan, who playfully acknowledges this will be the first time she’s ever officiated a wedding where she has also dated the groom. “I’d never kissed a groom prior to this wedding,” she confirms with a laugh.
The path to The Golden Wedding hasn’t been conventional, but it’s an experience that Susan is leaning into, especially given the relationships she formed during The Golden Bachelor’s first season. “Normally when I officiate, I ask the couple about the fun things they do together because you may not know them all that well, but this is different. This is just over-the-top fun,” she says.
Still, it’s a job Susan takes seriously, especially because nerves will be running high ahead of the live ceremony, which will also stream the next day on Hulu. “I hope I don’t stumble over words during the ceremony, but you freeze sometimes when you’re in front of so many people, so I always have my book with me,” she says. “But the opportunity to do this is so special. It’s because of the bond between the three of us. And I love doing it for people that I care about.”
Being the resident cheerleader is what endeared Susan to so many when the series premiered on September 28, 2023. And now, some three months later, that same calming nature is proving invaluable once again.
“Gerry and Theresa are nervous about how much there is to do in such a short amount of time, plus trying to find time to be together, start looking at homes, etc. There are so many little things to do before a wedding, but I told Theresa, ‘Your wedding is going to be amazing. Everything from A to Z is being taken care of,’” says Susan.
Even so, Susan reveals that Theresa, who is a senior compliance and operations liaison at a securities company, hasn’t taken time off from her day job, wrangling it on top of promotional commitments to ABC/Warner Bros. and preparing for a new life and home with Gerry. “She’s still working, so I actually just told her today, ‘Theresa, make sure you pause and enjoy the moment. It’s going to fly by and you’re going to blink and you’re going to want to watch it on TV later to see, but enjoy yourself. Make sure we get a dance together. Let’s have fun at this reception. Let everything go and just be you. Be with your friends.’”
And while Susan won’t be doing Theresa’s hair for the big day (“I’ll never forget her saying, ‘Could you turn the curling iron back?’ as I helped get her ready for that first date,” Susan says with a laugh), she’ll be on standby. “I did her tell I’ll be there if there’s something she doesn’t like or wants tweaked,” Susan adds. “I said, ‘Just pull me aside and we’ll fix whatever you need.’”
That same emotional support will extend to Gerry as well. “During the rose ceremonies when he would tear up, he’d look around the room and I’d be like, ‘It’s okay. It’s okay,’” Susan recalls. “He would always say to me, ‘Susan, that means so much to me. You brought me back.’ And for the actual wedding ceremony, you know Gerry’s going to cry. He already said, ‘Susan, you know…,’ and I said, ‘I’ll be right next to you, babe. It’s all good.’”
Plus, the 66-year-old has had plenty of practice. In 2011, at the first wedding Susan officiated (which was for her former salon assistant), she was hesitant to take on something that seemed so involved. “I was 50-something years old going, ‘You’re going to ask me to be in a wedding? I don’t want to be in a wedding.’ But another girlfriend said to me, ‘Noles, it’ll be fine. You just go online. It’ll cost like $29 [to become ordained].’ Long story short, two days later I had spent over a hundred dollars. I did everything. I am sworn. I can baptize. I can do funerals. I took it very seriously.”
But more importantly, Susan says the real reward is how it makes her feel. “People heard and listened to what I said [at the first ceremony]. I had people almost ready to cry, and then I made it light and we would laugh. I fell in love with it, and I’m in love with being in love. So to marry somebody is like the perfect day. Everybody’s happy.”
Still, nothing prepares you for the spotlight of being on a national dating show, especially one that permeates the zeitgeist the way The Golden Bachelor has done. Now the requests for Nuptials by Noles are coming in faster than Susan can keep up with.
“I wanted to hire somebody just to answer the emails,” Susan says of the interest. “It’s already taken off since the show. People want me to come to Florida. They want me to go to Ohio. They want me to go to Alabama. But I need hotel accommodations, travel, etc., on top of my regular price, so I don’t know how to do it, but I’m figuring it out. I need an assistant, I know.”
The influx of requests aside, Susan is laser-focused on the Turner-Nist nuptials. Her dress for the reception—“a black beaded gown”—is at the tailor, but the ensemble she’ll wear for the actual ceremony (“It’s beautiful and vintage and really special,” she teases) is ready to go. “But instead of six-inch heels, I’ll probably wear four-inch heels this time!”
And while she’s careful not to reveal too much about Theresa’s dress, she says the bride’s gown is magnificent. “She is going to be stunning. Stunning. It is going to be a show, I’m telling you. Everybody’s going to look fabulous.”
As far as the menu, Susan’s meatballs and Edith’s guacamole are not currently in the rotation, “but they better serve me well,” she jokes. “However, I will be bringing cookies [for the crew]. I just did an extra batch from Christmas, and I have them all packed up.”
Cookies and commitments aside, Susan is just glad not to have to keep her Golden Bachelor officiating duties a secret anymore. “Because everyone around [Philadelphia] knows what I do, I’ve gotten a hundred emails saying, ‘Are you going to officiate their wedding?’ Or they’ll ask, ‘Are you going to the wedding?’ To that I’d say, ‘I wouldn't miss it,’ but I avoided the officiating question.” Susan says the only people she told were her immediate family. As for her fellow ASKN crew (April, Kathy, Nancy), Susan won’t confirm or deny if they knew prior to today’s public announcement.
What she will say is that she’ll stay near the wedding location (which ABC is still keeping under wraps) for a few days, and then 10 days later, she and Kathy and Nancy are going on their long-planned vacation to St. Martin. (April is sadly no longer able to make that trip.)
And while Susan is currently not dating anyone (“If I could just find somebody that loves me and can take my big-ass personality,” she says with a laugh), she’s focused on just enjoying life with her family and girlfriends. “I realized I am the good catch. I’m not looking anymore and I’m okay with it. If it’s going to happen, it’ll happen. Like this show and meeting these women. It was a beautiful, beautiful journey, a life-changing experience. And now with the wedding, I just couldn’t be any more excited. It’ll be sweet, and funny, and meaningful. It’s a little bit of everything, and that’s what I love to do.”
Jessica Radloff is the Glamour senior West Coast editor and author of the NYT best-selling book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.
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