(WJW) – Gerry Turner, who starred in the first season of "The Golden Bachelor," has revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer just weeks before his divorce from Theresa Nist.
Turner and Nist, who got married in a televised wedding ceremony in January, had previously announced on ABC News that they were splitting up just three months later. At the time, the couple said they "looked closely at our situation, our living situation" before making the decision.
During a recent interview with People, the 72-year-old Indiana man shed more light on the end of their marriage.
"There's a topic that I haven't wanted to talk about until now," Turner told People. "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 said he and Nist were figuring out their living situation when he was diagnosed with a type of cancer known as Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.
"Unfortunately, there's no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make," Turner told People. "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 Nist was "awestruck" but "so understandable" when he told her 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 son-in-laws, my granddaughters," he told People. "The importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority."
Turner said during the interview he's living life to the fullest and hopes Nist "finds everything she wants."
Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is caused by blood cell mutations and often develops in the bone marrow, according to the Cleveland Clinic. People more likely to develop WM are white, 65 and older, or male (or born male), the Cleveland Clinic writes.
As Turner mentioned, there is no cure for WM, but there are several treatment options. Depending on severity, some patients may not need immediate treatment, according to both the Cleveland Clinic and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Patients diagnosed with WM have a five-year survival rate of about 75%, the Cleveland Clinic says.
"The Golden Bachelor," a spin-off series of "The Bachelor," premiered on ABC on Oct. 26, 2023.
