‘Golden Bachelor’ Gerry Turner Had Suicidal Thoughts After Theresa Nist Divorce

Gerry Turner is opening up about the brutal public backlash after his split with Theresa Nist … admitting the ‘Golden Bachelor’ heartbreak hit him so hard, he spiraled into suicidal thoughts.

TMZ has obtained an except of Gerry’s upcoming memoir, “Golden Years” … and he writes that after announcing his divorce just 3 months in last year, the negative reaction got so brutal he hit rock bottom … writing, “One night, while I was lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, it all became too much, and for the briefest moment, I thought about putting a gun to my head.”

In the excerpt, Gerry explains he’s always had a “marathon mentality” — pushing through pain knowing it would pass. But he admitted that at the time, the agony felt endless.

Gerry says the dark thoughts vanished just as quickly … because he immediately pictured his daughters, Jenny and Angie, and knew he could never put them through that. He clarifies the moment wasn’t about wanting to die … but more about wishing he could just disappear.

And that’s exactly what he says he craved as soon as the public scrutiny started piling on … writing, “I dreamed of renting a room in some remote part of Alaska no one had ever heard of and not coming out for a month” — a shock for him, since “he had never been the depressed type.”

Gerry also gets candid about the behind-the-scenes fallout with Theresa … saying they had a pact to shield each other from bogus headlines, but he says she broke the deal by putting out her own statement just days later.

Still, he’s promising the full ride — from reality TV fame to heartbreak, and the lessons he’s pulled from it all — in his memoir “Golden Years,” hitting shelves Nov. 4.