Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

In a new interview, Gerry Turner opened up about receiving a bone marrow cancer diagnosis. The inaugural Golden Bachelor told People that he was diagnosed with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia earlier this year, shortly before his divorce from Theresa Nist.

Gerry told Theresa about having a blood disorder in February, after a physician detected unusual findings, he told the magazine. Additional testing confirmed he had cancer, which he shared with Theresa in March.

“Certainly, it was hard for me,” he said. “But the conversation was brief and I think [she was] a little bit awestruck by the news. So understandable.”

The diagnosis came while the couple was “trying very hard to find our lifestyle and where we were going to live and how we were going to make our life work,” Gerry said in the Dec. 11 interview, adding that those questions “became less of a priority” following the diagnosis.

“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 said.

While Gerry has hesitated to talk about his diagnosis, he told People that participating in different causes and charities encouraged him to share his own story. “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.”

Gerry & Theresa’s Relationship

Gerry and Theresa announced their divorce on April 12, three months after getting married in a live, televised ceremony. The Golden Bachelor hopes that people realize it wasn’t actually a “rash, fast decision.”

“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,” he 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.”

In his People interview, Gerry wished Theresa “all of the good luck in the world,” and announced his intention to “pack as much fun as I possibly can into my life and enjoy every moment.”