“Golden Bachelor”'s Theresa Nist Reveals Her DMs Are Flooded with Suitors 'Younger Than My Son': 'I'm Just Baffled' (Exclusive)

Theresa Nist has no shortage of suitors — and some of them are half her age!

In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE, The Golden Bachelor alum, 71, opens up about how she's navigating dating again since her divorce from Gerry Turner.

Right now, she's staying off dating apps but that doesn't mean people aren't sliding into her DMs.

"I do get approached through Instagram direct messages, but you wouldn't believe how young these guys are," she says. "They're so young that they're younger than my son!"

Nist laughs, "But these young guys, I'm just baffled by it and they'll persist and persist and persist. And I'm talking 33-year-olds!"

Related: Theresa Nist Speaks Out About Gerry Turner's Cancer Diagnosis, End of Marriage: 'I Was Extremely Upset' (Exclusive)

Nist found love on the inaugural season of the ABC dating show, and got engaged to Turner during the finale episode, which aired in November 2023. A few months later, they tied the knot during a live televised wedding special in January 2024.

But after just three months of marriage, the newlyweds announced their decision to divorce during a joint interview on Good Morning America, which aired on April 12, 2024 — the same day Turner officially filed.

On Dec. 11, Turner revealed he was diagnosed with a slow growing bone marrow cancer weeks before their split. Nist told PEOPLE his diagnosis "wasn't a factor in the ending of the relationship, at least not for me."

"If that was something on his part, maybe, I don't know. But no, that didn't factor into ending the relationship," she explains. "Part of it was the distance, but that wasn't the only part. That's really all I will say."

Related: Theresa Nist Thought Gerry Turner Marriage Would 'Last Forever' but Admits 'You Don't Know Everything' at 70

Though Nist wants to find her next great love, she admits she hasn't been on any dates since the divorce.

"I have been asked, and I've said no," she says. "I don't know. I'm more clear on what I want, so I don't want to waste anyone's time. I definitely do want to be with someone. I do," she continues. "I think life is so much better when you're with someone, but I know that it's even hard for young people to find people. Imagine how much harder it gets ... I'm 71. That number scares people."

Related: Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist's Relationship Timeline, from Golden Bachelor to Divorce

The reality star confesses that she's "not sure" if she'd like to get married again, but she'd like to find a partner who has a sense of "passion."

"Like passion for something you love to do, something that makes you wake up and want to get out of bed in the morning," she says of her dating requirements. "It's intelligence. It's to be able to speak on the same level. And that's really unique when you start talking to someone, whether or not you, you're understanding each other at your core."

Though she'd like to "date someone younger," Nist says she'd like to consider potential partners who are "maybe 10 years younger" at the most.

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"To me, age, it doesn't matter up to a point," she explains. "[But] too young, we are just not culturally the same, we didn't experience the same things growing up, the same music, the same movies. It's hard to have a conversation. And I don't think that anything is too old."

"It's just your energy. It's who you are basically," she adds.

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