‘The Golden Bachelor’ Star Gerry Turner Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

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As a devoted fan of Gerry Turner, it’s heartbreaking to learn about his cancer diagnosis and the challenges he’s facing. However, I admire his resilience and positive outlook on life. His ability to prioritize what truly matters – family and loved ones – is inspiring.

Gerry Turner, star of ABC‘s The Golden Bachelor, is opening up about his cancer diagnosis.

In an interview with People magazine released on Wednesday, the 72-year-old looked back on his divorce from Theresa Nist, whom he proposed to on The Bachelor finale and married during a broadcast wedding on ABC in January 2024. It was only three months later that Turner and Nist announced their separation during an interview on Good Morning America. Previously, they had attributed their split to difficulties finding a shared home. However, for the first time, Turner has now disclosed additional reasons behind the scenes.

While Theresa and I were making great efforts to discover our ideal way of living, figure out where we belonged, and plan our lives, I received the unfortunate news that I had cancer,” he confided.

Three years before appearing on the show, Turner had injured his shoulder while teaching pickleball. It wasn’t until then that he decided to consult a doctor about it. Upon examination, the orthopedic surgeon mentioned some unusual blood markers and referred him to his family doctor, who subsequently referred him to an oncologist. Now, Turner is working with a hematology-oncology group in Fort Wayne.

As a gamer, I’ve been dealing with a challenging health issue – Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, a type of bone marrow cancer that grows slowly. It’s tough because there’s no cure for it, so every decision I make is affected by this reality. It was like a massive 10-ton weight fell on me out of nowhere. At first, I was in denial, not wanting to accept the situation.

Initially, his doctors informed him that he had a “blood-related condition,” but Turner suspected it was cancer all along. After disclosing his health issue to Nist, Turner underwent further examinations, such as a bone marrow biopsy, which ultimately verified the diagnosis. In turn, Turner chose to inform Nist about his condition and clarify the situation to her.

Indeed, it was challenging for me, but our chat didn’t last long. It seemed like she was quite taken aback by the news, which is completely understandable,” he explained.

He expressed that he desired to maintain his life as close to its usual state as possible, and this thinking led him to value spending time with his family – his two daughters, their husbands, and his granddaughters – above all else. While the path with Theresa remained significant, it became less of an immediate concern.

Once the initial shock from such news subsides after several days or weeks, when you gather your thoughts and reflect on what truly matters to you, that’s when you begin to progress. I hope people can now see in hindsight that this had a significant influence on my choices, and likely Theresa’s too.

As a gamer, I’d like to clarify the hasty ending of our gameplay session. Maybe they’ll see it from another angle, understand that it wasn’t an impulsive, hurried choice as some might think. There were underlying factors at play that I believe will become clearer over time.

Moving forward, Turner expressed his intention to “cram as much joy as I can into my life and cherish every second. I don’t want any regrets when it’s time for me to go, but until then, I’ll be gone when I’m gone. I wish Nist all the luck in the world, may she find everything her heart desires.

Turner’s premiere as “The Golden Bachelor” garnered the highest ratings for any show within the franchise since Matt James’ finale on “The Bachelor.” After this triumph, ABC officially announced in February that a “Golden Bachelorette” was being developed. The former participant of “The Golden Bachelor,” Joan Vassos, was selected as the first-ever “Golden Bachelorette.

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2024-12-11 21:57