On December 11, news broke that The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner is dealing with incurable cancer. Now his ex-wife Theresa Nist is telling the story from her perspective. The New Jersey native is sharing about the day her new husband told her he had cancer and how they made the decision to separate.
Theresa Nist learns about Gerry Turner’s cancer diagnosis
The financial services professional learned the news sometime in March, when she was visiting Gerry in Indiana. The news was “devastating.”
“I was extremely upset,” she told People. “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,” she added. “I know that he will do the best that he can to make this a positive experience … and that he’ll live to a very healthy old age.”
On December 11, Gerry announced his diagnosis with a slow-growing bone marrow cancer known as Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia. According to the Mayo Clinic, the disease changes white blood cells into cancer cells, which build up in the bone marrow.
After meeting and becoming engaged on The Golden Bachelor, the couple had an elaborate TV wedding in January 2024. But after only three months of marriage, they announced their separation. At the time, they said it was because they couldn’t decide where to live, but now we know the real reason.
Following his diagnosis, Gerry felt he needed to prioritize his family. Making a life with Theresa “became less of a priority,” he said. “When you are hit with that kind of news … the shock wears off after a few days or a few weeks, and you regroup and realize what’s important to you. That’s where you start to move forward.”
The decision to go their separate ways
Four weeks is a “very short span of time to get to know someone,” Theresa expressed in previous interviews. “During that four weeks … you’re [not] with that person every day … There were only certain times that I was with him one-on-one.”
Once they married, they planned to sell her home and move to Charleston, South Carolina, near Theresa’s son.
“[But Gerry] changed his mind,” she added. “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 … I was looking forward to that so much.”
“[The marriage] just petered out,” she admitted. “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.”
These days, Gerry and Theresa rarely even talk to each other. With what would have been their first anniversary approaching, Theresa views the occasion as “bittersweet.”
“We all learn lessons from [life],” the mom of two says. “I really appreciate my life even more than I did before … I do really appreciate where I am in life.”
As for Gerry, “I wish him the best and … that good things will come to him,” she says now. “I wish him a long, healthy, prosperous life, and I hope he finds his person … I just wish him all the best of everything in the world.”
The Golden Bachelor is now streaming on Hulu.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT GERRY AND THERESA RARELY TALK ANYMORE?
