Shortly after Gerry Turner announced his cancer diagnosis, the Golden Bachelor star’s ex-wife Theresa Nist broke her silence to address the news.
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While speaking to People, Nist revealed that Turner had told her about the diagnosis earlier this year while she was visiting him at his home in Indiana.
“That’s devastating news, really,” Nist told the outlet. “I was extremely upset.”
After revealing the diagnosis, Nist recalled Turner telling her it was a type of cancer that he would likely outlive.
“He’s a very positive person, and I am too,” Nist pointed out. “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.”
Turner told the media outlet on Wednesday, Dec. 11, that he had been diagnosed with a slow-growing bone marrow cancer called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.
Nist and Turner got engaged during the first season finale of The Golden Bachelor and were married in early January 2024. However, three months into the marriage, the couple announced their plans to divorce due to being unable to see eye-to-eye in where they would move.
Nist made it clear that the cancer diagnosis wasn’t a “factor” for her when it came to her split from Turner.
“If that was something on his part, maybe, I don’t know,” Nist said. “But no, that didn’t factor into ending the relationship. Part of it was the distance, but that wasn’t the only part. That’s really all I will say.”
Gerry Turner Wants to Continue ‘As Normal As Possible’ Following Cancer Diagnosis
Despite the diagnosis, Gerry Turner said he wanted to continue “as normal as possible.” That meant prioritizing his family in Indiana.
“The importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority,” Turner explained. “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 then explained that he hoped people would understand the “retrospect” of how the diagnosis had a “huge bearing” on his and Nist’s decisions.
Before the diagnosis, Nist said she and Turner had decided to move to Charleston, South Carolina. Turner was living in Indiana while Nist remained in her New Jersey home. The couple had been trying to figure out where to move following their televised wedding.
“That was the plan,” Nist confirmed about the duo moving to South Carolina. “I was selling my home. He was selling his home.”
Nist further stated she wasn’t forcing Turner to go to South Carolina. She claimed he had told her he was “sick” of his Indiana lake house. He was looking for a change of scenery.
“[But] Gerry, after he got back home, he kind of changed his mind,” she said. “He said, ‘No, let’s do it six weeks here and six weeks there.’ And I didn’t want to do that. I really wanted a home together. I wanted the joy of being in a home together and designing a home together.”
Nist admitted she thought their home was going to be “phenomenal.”
“I was looking forward to that so much,” she added.
Nist wished her ex all the best.