Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner and Fiancée Theresa Nist Make Their Red Carpet Debut as an Engaged Couple

The reality stars — who are set to wed Jan. 4 — stepped out together at a 'Golden Bachelor' event in New York City

Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist are red-carpet official!

The 72-year-old star of The Golden Bachelor and Nist, the contestant who earned his final rose — and will soon take his hand in marriage — made their red carpet debut as an engaged couple at a Golden Bachelor screening and panel in New York City on Monday evening.

At the Times Center event, Turner stepped out in a navy suit jacket and pants with a light blue dress shirt and coordinating patterned tie, while Nist, 70, wore a tan ribbed mock-neck dress with a bright red long coat on top

Her vintage-inspired Neil Lane engagement ring was front and center as she posed on the carpet both with her fiancé and without, and between a metallic manicure and her ear-to-ear grin, she was a picture-perfect soon-to-be bride.

Related: Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner Still Can't Bear to See Himself Rejecting Women: 'Soul-Crushing'

During a moderated For Your Consideration panel, the couple opened up about their time on the hit reality dating series, and Nist shared the difficulty she faced with watching her now-fiancé fall in love with other women when the show started to air.

She said that she watched every episode with her daughter, son-in-law and three grandsons, and was "horrified" at what she looked like. The following night, she would "watch it alone," and that's when certain scenes would sting.

"Gerry and I were talking on the phone all the time, so he prepared me for things, but there's some things he just couldn't prepare me for," she admitted. "There's some things I had to just... I cried over a few things."

Despite how hard it was to watch certain moments unfold, the financial services professional was always rooting for Turner to find love, no matter what.

"I really wanted Gerry to find the right person, and I only wanted it to be me if it was right for it to be me," she said. "I learned that I could do that and allow that process to happen, and I think that's important too when going into a process like this. It's difficult, but necessary."

Turner popped the question during the season finale of the ABC reality series on Nov. 30, but before Nist accepted, she shared an emotional message with her fiancé-to-be.

"I know how sometimes it feels like the whole world thinks love is only for the young, and quite honestly, at the age of 70, I was beginning to feel that myself,” she said during the emotional episode.

"I’m so madly in love with you, Gerry,” she continued. “And I feel that for us, life isn’t over, the best is yet to come.”

Related: Gerry Turner Believes ‘Fate Played a Hand’ in His Decision to Move to Charleston with Theresa Nist (Exclusive)

The Golden Bachelor proposed to Nist with a handcrafted, princess-cut sparkler designed by Neil Lane, The Bachelor franchise’s go-to jeweler.

After the engagement, both Turner and Lane chatted exclusively with PEOPLE about how he selected the 3.15-carat ring for Nist — and the important “symbolism” behind it.

According to Lane, the “brilliance” of the “vintage-inspired” ring drew Turner in most, because it reminded him of his fiancée-to-be.

“The design, the elegance, it's not simple, but it looks at first very elegantly simple on the top,” Lane told PEOPLE. “But then when you hold it to the side you see how complex it gets.”

According to Lane, Turner said that is “the way he saw Theresa ... Elegant, I wouldn't say simple, but easy. But then when you get closer, there's such depth. There's such warmth.”

Turner echoed this sentiment, telling PEOPLE that “the symbolism of it is so important.”

“It was just like, the minute she slipped it on, again, it was like, ‘Oh, my god, this is that joyful happiness that I want to feel, that I want everyone to see,’” he added.

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Nist and Turner are gearing up to wed about a month after their red-carpet debut on Jan. 4.

During “After the Final Rose,” the newly-engaged couple announced that they plan to say “I do” in front of a live audience in an ABC special,The Golden Wedding.

"We are going to get married, we're going to do it as quickly as we can because at our age, we don't have a lot of time to waste," Turner said, adding, "As quickly as we can put together a wedding plan, we're getting married!"

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