Gerry Turner, the star of “The Golden Bachelor“, is revealing how a life-changing cancer diagnosis impacted his decision to end his marriage to Theresa Nist.
In an emotional interview, Turner, 72, shared how his experience on the show and his journey with a devastating health challenge reshaped his perspective on life and love.
While viewers saw his whirlwind romance with Nist unfold on national television, behind the scenes, Turner was grappling with much more, including a life-altering diagnosis.
The Diagnosis: A Life-Altering Moment
In February 2024, just months after marrying Nist in a televised ceremony, Gerry Turner received a diagnosis that would change everything.
He was told he had Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, a rare and slow-growing form of bone marrow cancer.
The diagnosis came after Gerry sought medical attention for a lingering shoulder injury.
Although his shoulder pain was the initial concern, bloodwork revealed unusual markers, prompting additional testing that led to the cancer diagnosis.
“There’s a topic that I haven’t wanted to talk about until now,” Gerry shared.
“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.”
He 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.”
A Turning Point In Gerry’s Relationship
Turner explained that while he and Nist were already facing challenges in their marriage due to long-distance living—Turner in Indiana and Nist in New Jersey—the cancer diagnosis added another level of complexity to their relationship.
“Unfortunately, there’s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make,” Turner said about his diagnosis.
“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 admitted that his cancer diagnosis changed his outlook on life, and he began to prioritize spending time with his family.
“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 explained.
“And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority.”
Gerry Turner’s Decision To Divorce
In April 2024, just three months after their televised wedding, Turner and Nist made the difficult decision to divorce.
They publicly shared the news during a “Good Morning America” interview, with Turner explaining that the challenges of long-distance living and their inability to agree on where to settle down had contributed to their split.
However, Turner now acknowledges that his cancer diagnosis was a major factor in the breakdown of their marriage.
“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 said.
“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.”
He added, “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.”
Moving Forward With No Regrets
Despite the heartache of ending his marriage, Turner is determined to live his life to the fullest.
He has adopted the philosophy of “Live Like You Were Dying” inspired by Tim McGraw’s song.
“I’m going to pack 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,” he said.
Gerry Turner also expressed his well-wishes for Nist, saying, “I wish her all of the good luck in the world, that she finds everything she wants to.”
He reflected on their time together, saying, “That glamour and starstruck, whirlwind time was really a cherished memory… It was wonderful, and I certainly wish it would’ve had a different ending, that we would’ve found our way, that we would’ve found solutions to a problem. And most of all, that I would not have had a diagnosis that so strongly influenced my decisions and the direction I went.”
Gerry Turner’s journey is a powerful reminder of the unpredictable nature of life.
His candidness about his cancer diagnosis and the impact it had on his relationship with Nist highlights the profound ways health can shape our decisions.
While his marriage to Nist ended, Turner’s focus is now on family, living life without regrets, and embracing every moment.
Sending love and prayers to Gerry.
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