“Golden Bachelor” of the USA: Gerry Turner is terminally ill with cancer

The star of the US version of “Golden Bachelor”, Gerry Turner (72), has made it public that he has been diagnosed with incurable cancer. “There’s a topic I haven’t wanted to talk about until now,” the reality TV star said

Now it’s “about time,” said Turner, also because it will likely solve a lot of mysteries about “what happened in February, March and April,” he added. He was referring to his decision to divorce his wife Theresa Nist (71) after they met on the dating show.

“As Theresa and I were trying very hard to find our lifestyle and figure out where we wanted to live and how we wanted to live our lives, unfortunately I was diagnosed with cancer,” Turner said in the interview. He further explained that he injured his shoulder three years ago while teaching a pickleball class, but didn’t go to the orthopedist at the time. Finally he went to the doctor and the orthopedic surgeon told him: “Gerry, we can’t do much for your shoulder, but there are some unusual blood markers here.” The orthopedist contacted Turner’s family doctor, who then referred him to an oncologist.

Turner said he was diagnosed with slowly progressive “bone marrow cancer” called Waldenström’s disease. The reality TV star went on to explain that there is “no cure” for this cancer. “It was like ten tons of concrete had been dumped on me. And I denied it for a while, I didn’t want to admit it.”

Due to his serious illness, he wanted to spend more time with his two daughters and his grandchildren, which meant less time for his new wife. “I wanted my life to continue as normally as possible and that led me to believe that being as normal as possible meant spending more time with my family, my two daughters, my two sons-in-law and my granddaughters,” he shared with. Finding a way with Theresa has become less important.

In April, Nist and Turner announced that they were divorcing “amicably” after just three months of marriage. Turner proposed to Nist during the season finale of “Golden Bachelor,” which aired in November 2023. Two months later, the couple walked down the aisle in a televised wedding. The divorce between the two ex-partners was finalized in June.