Kathy From The Golden Bachelor Embraced The “Zip It” Drama After Being Cut

Drama infiltrated The Golden Bachelor in Episodes 3 and 4, prompting leading man Gerry Turner to say goodbye to Kathy Swarts, one of the women involved. As the retired educational consultant left, she joked that she “might burn the house down” because “rejection’s not fun.” Though she managed to refrain, Swarts couldn’t resist poking fun at the drama between her and fellow contestant Theresa Nist when her elimination episode aired on Oct. 19.

The tension between the two contestants bubbled up as Nist shared details about her growing connection with Turner with Swarts and the other women. Swarts felt it was too much and told Nist so, and Turner caught wind of the “disturbance.” Though he kept them both around for another week, a second confrontation, in which Swarts advised Nist to “zip it,” ended up leading to her elimination.

When the episode aired, Swarts didn’t shy away from the drama. She referenced her “friendly advice” to Nist in a video showing her and her friends — including fellow contestant Susan Noles — simultaneously saying, “Zip it,” while doing a corresponding hand gesture.

Drama In The Comments

The video quickly drew a number of comments, and there was a mixed reaction among Golden Bachelor fans. Swarts’ supporters stood by her, while her critics accused her of being “jealous” and displaying “mean girl behavior.” By Oct. 21, the comments were turned off.

In retrospect, Swarts foreshadowed her Golden Bachelor drama in a post on Aug. 31. She teased at the time that she might not be universally liked but she would be herself. “Back in the day when acting grown up was the goal, people would demand that I act my age, not my shoe size,” she wrote in part. “Turns out I’m still not fulfilling others’ expectations—mostly because I have my own and they fit me just fine.”

Theresa’s Side Of The Story

As for Nist, she addressed the situation in a lengthy Instagram post after the Oct. 12 episode. Calling the episode “a bit hard” to watch, she said it was out of character to find herself “involved in drama.” She explained her commentary about her relationship with Turner as her thinking she’d be “able to be open and honest with a new friend” about her feelings. “I never ever intended to make Kathy or anyone feel less than,” she added in part.

“I am grateful to all of you that could see that I had only good intentions and that I felt absolutely terrible when I realized I had hurt Kathy’s feelings,” she wrote before signing off.

The Golden Bachelor continues with Gerry Turner’s hunt for love on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.