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Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner Reveals Incurable Cancer Diagnosis; Says It Led to Divorce from Theresa Nist Few Months After Televised Wedding
In an interview, Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner revealed that his incurable cancer diagnosis played a role in his decision to divorce Theresa Nist, whom he fell in love with on the hit ABC series.
Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner has announced he has incurable cancer. The 73-year-old, who became a household name after starring in the hit ABC series, spoke to People for an interview published on Wednesday, December 11. He revealed he hadn’t wanted to talk about his diagnosis until recently. Still, he realized discussing it would clear up a lot of mystery about what happened in February, March, and April.
For those who may not know, Turner married Theresa Nist in a televised ceremony in February 2023 after proposing to her during the finale of Golden Bachelor in November 2023. They ended up announcing their divorce in April.
“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,” Turner said. He explained that his diagnosis came after he went to see an orthopedic surgeon earlier this year, approximately three years after injuring his shoulder while teaching a pickleball class.
The doctor informed him there wasn’t much that could be done for his shoulder, but some unusual blood markers needed further diagnosis. That led to Turner learning he had a slow-growing bone marrow cancer called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.
According to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the disease is a rare blood cell cancer that mostly forms in the bone marrow and slows down normal blood cell growth, which can lead to anemia and a weakened immune system.
As mentioned earlier, there is no cure for the cancer.
Learning the diagnosis felt like 10 tons of concrete dropping on him, Turner said. “I was a bit in denial for a while; I didn’t want to admit to it,” he added.
Due to the severity of his cancer, Turner said he wanted to spend more time with his two daughters, his sons-in-law, and his granddaughters. He wanted his life to continue as normally as possible, and hence he realized that he wouldn’t have much to offer his new wife.
Turner said he hopes people will “understand in retrospect now” why the ex-couple decided to part ways after only three months of marriage.
ALSO READ: 'So Grateful': Golden Bachelor's Theresa Nist Shares Heartfelt Life Message On 71st Birthday
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, and so forth. We’ve kind of come to the conclusion, mutually, that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Turner said on GMA in April.
Nist added that many people told her their time on the dating series gave hope to those in the later stages of life about finding love again, and she didn’t want that to change for anyone.
The exes finalized their divorce in June.
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