Golden Bachelor’s Theresa Nist Reacts to Gerry Turner’s Cancer Diagnosis

In an interview with PEOPLE published on Wednesday, Turner, 72, revealed he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer shortly before he split from Nist, 71.

The couple revealed in April 2024 that they were divorcing just three months after they tied the knot in a televised special.

Nist recalled with PEOPLE her reaction when Turner first shared his diagnosis with her.

“It was when I visited Gerry in Indiana [some time in March],” she said. “That’s devastating news, really. I was extremely upset.”

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

“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 added. “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.”

Turner first announced his diagnosis on Wednesday, telling PEOPLE that he was diagnosed with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.

According to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia is a rare, slow-growing blood cell cancer “that originates from malignant B-cells” and develops in the bone marrow.

Nist and Turner met and fell for each other during Season 1 of The Golden Bachelor. The newlyweds then said, “I Do” in a televised wedding ceremony dubbed The Golden Wedding on January 4.

Three months later, the two announced they were headed for divorce during an April 12 appearance on Good Morning America, which also marked the day Turner filed for divorce. Nist and Turner blamed the breakdown of their marriage on “geography,” with the former living in New Jersey and the latter residing in Indiana.

While speaking with PEOPLE, Turner said he wanted to “continue on as normal as possible” following his diagnosis, including making his family a priority.

“The importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority,” he admitted.

“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,” he told the outlet. “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.”

Nist, meanwhile, said Turner’s cancer diagnosis “wasn’t a factor in the ending of the relationship, at least not for me.”

“If that was something on his part, maybe, I don’t know. But no, that didn’t factor into ending the relationship,” she added. “Part of it was the distance, but that wasn’t the only part. That’s really all I will say.”

Nist said she wishes her ex “the best” and hopes he has a “long and healthy, prosperous life.” Similarly, Turner told PEOPLE that he wishes Nist “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 added, reflecting on their romance. “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.”