The first-ever “Golden Bachelor” Gerry Turner is opening up about the real reason behind his short-lived marriage to Theresa Nist.
“There’s a topic that I haven’t wanted to talk about until now,” he told People in a new interview. “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.”
“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 revealed.
Three years ago, he sustained a shoulder injury during a pickleball lesson.
He put off going to the doctors until earlier this year.
“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,’” he told People.
“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’s bloodwork revealed a type of bone marrow cancer called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.
“Unfortunately, there’s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make,” Turner continued.
“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.”
Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia is an uncommon blood cell cancer that originates from malignant B-cells. It is a slow-growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Turner shared the news with Nist in March. The former coupled announced their break up in April.
They announced their separation in an interview with Good Morning America on April 12 just three months after getting married following the first season of “The Golden Bachelor.”
“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 and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion, mutually, that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage,” Turner shared at the time, adding that the inability to decide on where they wanted to live was a key factor in making their decision to end their relationship.
“Certainly, it was hard for me,” Turner said of revealing his diagnosis to Nist. “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,” he explains. “And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority.”
EXCLUSIVE: “The Golden Bachelor” couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist announce they are getting divorced.
“We’ve looked closely at our situation…and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage.” https://t.co/tmeLsD9HqB pic.twitter.com/4rYZw58tGn
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 12, 2024
Turner called the judgements made about their failed marriage unfair, People reported.
“When you are hit with that kind of news and the shock wears off after a few days or a few weeks and you regroup and you realize what’s important to you, that’s where you start to move forward,” Turner shared.
“And I hope that people understand in retrospect now that that had a huge bearing on my decisions and I think probably Theresa’s as well.”
Now, Turner wants to focus on packing “as much fun as I possibly can into my life and enjoy every moment. And when I’m gone, I’m gone, but I’m not going to have regrets.”
