Gerry Turner, the septuagenarian who starred on the premiere season of The Golden Bachelor, revealed in a new interview that he was diagnosed with a form of bone marrow cancer earlier this year, a diagnosis that contributed to his divorce from Theresa Nist, the winner of the reality dating series.
Speaking to People, Turner says that earlier this year, soon after his and Nist’s televised wedding special in January, he had his shoulder examined after injuring it years earlier playing Pickleball.
“Finally I got around to going [to the doctor] and the orthopedic surgeon said, ‘Yeah Gerry, there’s not much we can do for your shoulder, but there are some unusual blood markers here,’” Turner said. “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.”
Tests later revealed that Turner had a “bone marrow cancer” with a “really long name” called 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 eventually shared the cancer news with his then-new wife Nist — at the time, the pair were still living states apart, he in Indiana and she in New Jersey — “The conversation was brief, and I think [she was] a little bit awestruck by the news. So understandable,” Turner said.
However, the conversation would lay the foundation for the couple’s divorce, which they announced in April and finalized in June, less than six months after their televised wedding.
“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,” Turner said of his decision post-diagnosis. “And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority.”
Turner added, “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.”
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
