Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner Reveals Bone Marrow Cancer Diagnosis

Eight months after his split with wife Theresa Nist, “The Golden Bachelor” star Gerry Turner has some shocking news to share.

In an interview with People magazine, Turner shared, “There's a topic that I haven't wanted to talk about until now. 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."

In April, Gerry and Theresa announced their divorce, just three months after their TV wedding.

He explained, “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.”

After being referred to an oncologist by his family doctor, Turner was diagnosed with “bone marrow cancer” known as Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.

In Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, white blood cells are turned into cancer cells.

Turner noted, “Unfortunately, there's no cure for it. 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."

A month before their split announcement, Gerry told Theresa “what I knew and I explained the situation to her.”

He went on, “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."

Gerry added, “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 [sons-in-law], my granddaughters. And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority."

In a separate interview with the outlet, Theresa weighed in on Gerry’s cancer diagnosis.

She recalled when she got the news, saying, "It was when I visited Gerry in Indiana [sometime in March]. That's devastating news, really. I was extremely upset."

She noted, "He told me, though, that it was the type of cancer that he would most likely outlive."