‘The Golden Bachelor’ Star Gerry Turner Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Gerry Turner, star of ABC‘s The Golden Bachelor, is opening up about his cancer diagnosis.

In an interview with People magazine published Wednesday, the 72-year-old reflected on his divorce from Theresa Nist, whom he got engaged to on the finale of the Golden Bachelor and got married to during a wedding broadcast on ABC in January 2024. Just three months after getting married, Turner and Nist announced their decision to divorce during a joint interview on Good Morning America. Though at the time they cited not being able to settle on a place to live together as the reason, for the first time Turner revealed what else was going on behind the scenes.

“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 shared.

After getting a shoulder injury while teaching a pickleball class three years prior to going on the show, Turner said it was when he finally got around to going to the doctor for it when he learned his diagnosis. He recalled the orthopedic surgeon saying, “‘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.”

Turner was diagnosed with a slow-growing “bone marrow cancer” called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, he revealed. “Unfortunately, there’s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make,” he said. “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.”

His oncologists first told him that he had a “blood disorder” but Turner said he “pretty much” knew it would be cancer. After sharing his blood disorder with Nist, Turner underwent additional testing, including a bone marrow biopsy, which is when his diagnosis was confirmed. Turner then said he decided to tell Nist “what I knew and I explained the situation to her.”

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

“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. “And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority.”

“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 added. “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.”

Of the criticism or speculation surrounding their quick separation Turner said, “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.”

Going forward, Turner said he’s 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 also wished Nist “all of the good luck in the world, that she finds everything she wants to.”

In a separate interview with People, Nist recalled being told the news by Turner at the time: “That’s devastating news, really. I was extremely upset.” She added, “He told me though, that it was the type of cancer that he would most likely outlive.”

“He’s a very positive person and I am too, and I know that he will do the best that he can to make this a positive experience,” she said. “And I have every faith that is going to work out that way, that it’s going to be the type of cancer that will not affect his life and that he’ll live to be a very healthy old age.” Nist also noted that his diagnosis was not the reason for their split.

“If that was something on his part, maybe, I don’t know. But no, that didn’t factor into ending the relationship,” she said. “Part of it was the distance, but that wasn’t the only part. That’s really all I will say.”

Though they don’t talk often, Nist said of Turner, “I wish him the best and that I know that he was in a very difficult situation and that good things will come to him. And I wish for him a long and healthy, prosperous life, and I hope that he finds his person. I want him to be so happy, and I just wish him all the best of everything in the world.”

Turner’s debut as The Golden Bachelor saw the best ratings for any show in the franchise since the finale of Matt James’ season of The Bachelor. Following the success, ABC officially confirmed in February that a Golden Bachelorette was in the works. The Golden Bachelor alum Joan Vassos was chosen as the first Golden Bachelorette.

Dec. 11, 11:22 a.m. Updated with Theresa Nist’s comments.