‘Golden Bachelor’ Gerry Turner says incurable cancer diagnosis led to Theresa Nist divorce
Gerry Turner announced he had been diagnosed with bone cancer prior to his divorce from Theresa Nist. (John Fleenor/Disney via Getty Images)
"The Golden Bachelor" star Gerry Turner's health had a decline earlier this year.
On Wednesday, Turner told People magazine that he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in March, which greatly impacted his decision to get a divorce from Theresa Nist.
"There's a topic that I haven't wanted to talk about until now," Turner told the outlet, referring to his split from Nist. "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."
‘GOLDEN BACHELOR’ GERRY TURNER FINALIZES DIVORCE WITH THERESA NIST
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."
Turner's bone marrow cancer goes by a "really long name," according to the star. He was diagnosed with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, which, according to the Mayo Clinic, "is a type of cancer that begins in the white blood cells. Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia is considered a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It's sometimes called lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma."
"Unfortunately, there's no cure for it," Turner told the outlet. "So that weighs heavily in every decision I make. 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."
After receiving his diagnosis in mid-March, Turner decided to tell Nist "what I knew, and I explained the situation to her."
"Certainly, it was hard for me," Turner said of explaining his health to his then-wife. "But the conversation was brief, and I think [she was] a little bit awestruck by the news. So understandable."
He continued, "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. And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority."
Nist told People that Turner's cancer diagnosis was not the reason she decided getting a divorce was a good idea.
"It was when I visited Gerry in Indiana [some time in March]," Nist recalled. "That's devastating news, really. I was extremely upset."
Speaking of the diagnosis, Nist said, "He told me though, that it was the type of cancer that he would most likely outlive."
She continued, "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. 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."
Instead, she said that their inability to purchase a home together was what ultimately led to their split – something they've spoken about in the past.
She lives in New Jersey while Turner lives in Indiana, and they made the decision find a home together in South Carolina. But at one point, Nist said he "kind of changed his mind."
"He said, 'No, let's do it six weeks here and six weeks there.' And I didn't want to do that," she explained. "I really wanted a home together. I wanted the joy of being in a home together and designing a home together. I really thought that was going to be phenomenal. I was looking forward to that so much."
Nist said that they looked at homes in South Carolina "virtually," adding, "I think it just petered out that we were looking at homes back and forth and we could never agree on one. And then the emails just stopped, [and] we weren't looking anymore."
Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist were married for three months before filing for divorce. (Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images)
Turner addressed the "judgments" that circulated about the former couple's split and called the rumors "unfair" for Nist and himself.
"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."
Turner 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."
Amid Turner's diagnosis, he adopted a new mindset based on Tim McGraw's song "Live Like You're Dying."
Gerry Turner was the first "Golden Bachelor." (Brian Bowen Smith/ ABC via Getty Images)
"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," Turner told People magazine.
When it comes to Nist, Turner wishes her "all of the good luck in the world, that she finds everything she wants to."
"That glamour and starstruck, whirlwind time was really a cherished memory," Turner recalled. "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."
Turner earned a few "Bachelor" achievements through his tenure. Not only was he the oldest star of the show at 72, he also became the first engaged and married "Golden Bachelor" in the span of a few months.
He dropped to one knee and asked Nist to be his bride in Costa Rica, and the couple married during the "Golden Wedding," another milestone event for the franchise with the first televised live nuptials in a decade.
Turner and Nist revealed that love simply was not enough to keep their marriage going during a joint interview on "Good Morning America" in April.
"We looked at homes in South Carolina. We considered New Jersey. And we just looked at home after home, but we never got to the point where we made that decision," Nist said at the time.
Turner added, "I still love this person. There’s no doubt in my mind I still am in love with her. I root for her every day."
Nist agreed, "Yeah, I still love him."