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Gerry Turner Was Diagnosed With Cancer During Theresa Nist Marriage: She ‘Became Less of a Priority’
Golden Bachelor alum Gerry Turner revealed he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer earlier this year, which played a major factor in his decision to divorce ex-wife Theresa Nist.
“There’s a topic that I haven’t wanted to talk about until now,” Gerry, 72, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, December 11. “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.”
While the couple originally claimed the difficulty in agreeing where to live as newlyweds was the reason for their split, the reality star now says it was his cancer diagnosis that was the deciding factor.
“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 said.
Gerry was diagnosed with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, a slow-growing form of bone marrow cancer. According to the Mayo Clinic, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia is a “type of cancer that begins in the white blood cells” and “is considered a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It’s sometimes called lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma.”
The Indiana native went on to explain that his cancer was discovered after he “finally got around” to seeing a doctor about a shoulder injury he sustained three years ago while teaching a pickleball class.
“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,” Gerry continued, adding that he was “a bit in denial for a while.” “Unfortunately, there’s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make.”
Gerry and Theresa, 71, met during season 1 of The Golden Bachelor. They fell in love and got engaged during the season finale. Shortly after the season aired, the pair tied the knot during a televised ceremony on January 4. Theresa later revealed that their rush down the aisle was largely due to there being “a time constraint on the offer” for a lavish Palm Springs, California, wedding.
However, the Golden couple shocked the world just three months later when they announced their divorce during an interview with Good Morning America.
At the time, Gerry said, “We’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage. The thing that strikes me the most and in our conversations, it’s been how dedicated both of us are to our families. So, we look at these situations and I think we just feel like it’s best for the happiness of each of us to live apart.”
The retired restaurateur told People that he opened up to his then-wife about his diagnosis in mid-March, claiming she was understandably “a little bit awestruck by the news.”
“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 sons-in-law, my granddaughter. And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority,” he told the outlet. “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.”
Gerry added that he’s hopeful that viewers and fans will see their divorce “a little bit differently” now, adding, “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.”
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