Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner, 72, Announces He Was Diagnosed with Incurable Cancer Weeks Before Splitting with Wife Theresa Nist: 'I Was A Bit in Denial'
Gerry Turner revealed he was diagnosed with incurable cancer weeks before his split from Theresa Nist.
Dec. 11 2024, Published 5:40 p.m. ET
The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner has been diagnosed with incurable cancer.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Turner was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer three weeks before he split from wife Theresa Nist.
Turner, 72, opened up about his diagnosis and how it impacted his decision to divorce Nist, 71, three months after they tied the knot.
Turner and Nist split three months after they tied the knot in January 2024.
Together, Turner and Nist made history on the inaugural season of the ABC dating show when they proved age is just a number and got engaged during the season finale in November 2023.
Their wedding was televised in January 2024 and the newlyweds appeared smitten with each other.
But their love story came to an abrupt end when they shocked fans by announcing they were going their separate ways.
After fans were left dumbfounded by the newlywed's decision to divorce, Turner has cleared the air on what happened in the weeks before their TV wedding.
Turner said long-distance complicated their relationship but it wasn't the only issue.
Turner announced his decision in an interview from his Indiana home.
The realty show alum said his decision to continue living in Indiana, while Nist insisted on staying at her New Jersey home, complicated their relationship. Neither wanted to leave their families and they couldn't come to a compromise on the long-distance situation.
But their complicated living arrangement wasn't the only issue plaguing the relationship.
The 'Golden Bachelor' alum was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer three weeks before he and Nist announced their split.
The 72-year-old said: "There's a topic that I haven't wanted to talk about until now.
"I think it's time, also because it probably will clear up a lot of mystery around what happened back in February, March and April."
Turner continued: "As Theresa and I were trying very hard to find our lifestyle and where we were going to live and how we were going to make our life work, I was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer."
He added getting involved with various charities inspired him to come forward with his health update.
He further explained he suffered a shoulder injury three years ago after being knocked down while teaching a pickleball class. At the time, he was too busy to see an orthopedic surgeon – and then he was tapped to become the first Golden Bachelor and filming got in the way.
When he was finally able to make time to meet with an orthopedic surgeon, he was given devastating news.
Turner recalled: "Finally I got around to going (to the doctor) and the orthopedic surgeon said, 'Yeah Gerry, there's not much we can do for your shoulder, but there are some unusual blood markers here. And so an orthopedic surgeon went to my family doctor, my family doctor referred me to an oncologist, and now I'm working with a hematology-oncology group in Fort Wayne."
Turner said there is 'no cure' for his cancer.
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His diagnosis was a "bone marrow cancer" with a "really long name" called Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, the reality star explained.
He added: "Unfortunately, there's no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make.
"It was like 10 tons of concrete were just dropped on me. And I was a bit in denial for a while, I didn't want to admit to it."
Turner said his cancer diagnosis was a "process, rather than an event" and at first he was diagnosed with a blood disorder, news he shared with Nist in February.
Following more testing, including a bone marrow biopsy, Turner decided to "tell (Nist) what I knew and I explained the situation to her".
He added: "Certainly, it was hard for me. But the conversation was brief and I think [she was] a little bit awestruck by the news. So understandable.
"I wanted my life to continue on as normal as possible, and that led me to believing that as normal as possible more meant spending time with my family, my two daughters, my two son-in-laws, my granddaughters. And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority."
Turner added the initial "judgments" from people about their divorce were "unfair", adding: "Hopefully they'll look at things a little bit differently, that maybe it wasn't quite a rash, fast decision that people thought. That there was something else going on."
