Theresa Nist Speaks out about Gerry Turner’s Incurable Cancer Diagnosis, End of Marriage

Theresa Nist has spoken about her experience surrounding Gerry Turner’s cancer diagnosis and their brief marriage.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Theresa reflected on the moment her ex-husband, Gerry Turner, shared his diagnosis of Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, a rare and incurable cancer. She described the revelation as “devastating,” saying it occurred during a visit in Indiana earlier this year.

“It was when I visited Gerry in Indiana [some time in March],” she recalled during a Zoom call in her office in New Jersey, where she works as a financial services professional. “That’s devastating news, really. I was extremely upset.”

Despite the heavy emotional impact, she admired his positive outlook and shared her belief that he would manage the illness well, leading a healthy life.

“He told me though, that it was the type of cancer that he would most likely outlive.”

Theresa also touched on how the diagnosis influenced their relationship but maintained that it wasn’t the primary reason for their separation. The couple, who married during The Golden Bachelor, ultimately cited distance and other challenges as factors behind their decision to part ways. Both expressed mutual respect and well wishes for each other’s futures.

“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,” she continues. “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.”

Gerry Turner married Theresa Nist, the winner of his season, in January 2024. However, by March, he was diagnosed with cancer, and the couple split just weeks later.

“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,” he shared with People. “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.”

Unusual blood test results led to Gerry discovering that he has a rare bone marrow cancer called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.

He shared, “Unfortunately, there’s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make,” he says of the diagnosis. “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.”

“Certainly, it was hard for me,” he says of revealing his diagnosis to his then-wife. “But the conversation was brief and I think [she was] a little bit awestruck by the news. So understandable.”

The cancer diagnosis prompted Gerry to re-evaluate how and where he wanted to spend his time.

“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,” he said.

Reflecting on how the diagnosis impacted their relationship, he shared, “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. 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.”

“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,” he added.

Gerry wishes Theresa “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,” he says of their short-lived relationship. “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.”

“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,” he says.