Gerry Turner Says Cancer Diagnosis Influenced Theresa Nist Split; She Disputes That Account

Gerry Turner says his diagnosis with Waldenström macroglobulinemia changed his priorities during the brief marriage to Theresa Nist and influenced the couple’s decision to separate. Nist has disputed that interpretation, saying the cancer was not a factor in her decision to end the relationship.

The competing accounts are important because the couple announced their separation only about three months after their televised January 2024 wedding. The public record supports the diagnosis, the couple’s difficulty deciding where to live, and two different explanations of how the illness affected the marriage. It does not establish that Turner’s cancer caused the divorce.

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What Gerry Turner said about the diagnosis and the split

In a December 2024 interview with PEOPLE, Turner said medical testing first raised concerns about an abnormal blood disorder in February 2024. Further testing in March led to his diagnosis of Waldenström macroglobulinemia, a rare blood cancer. He said he shared the information with Nist as it became clearer.

Turner described the diagnosis as a major factor in the way he approached the marriage and his future. He said time with his daughters, sons-in-law, and granddaughters became more important, while finding a workable arrangement with Nist remained important but became less of a priority.

Turner also suggested that the diagnosis gave additional context to the couple’s rapid separation. From his perspective, the illness affected his decisions and may have affected Nist’s decisions as well. That is Turner’s account of the relationship—not an independently established finding about why the marriage ended.

Why Turner and Nist originally said they were separating

Turner and Nist announced the end of their marriage on Good Morning America on April 12, 2024. At the time, their explanation focused primarily on where they would live.

Turner was based in Indiana, while Nist had strong connections to New Jersey. Both also had children and grandchildren in different parts of the country. They said they had struggled to determine where they could build a shared home without moving too far away from their families.

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The announcement came after their relationship had moved unusually quickly in the public eye: they met and became engaged during ABC’s first season of The Golden Bachelor in 2023, then married in a live televised ceremony on January 4, 2024, known as The Golden Wedding.

Theresa Nist rejects the idea that cancer caused her to leave

Nist gave a different account after Turner’s cancer disclosure. She told PEOPLE that the diagnosis was not a factor in ending the relationship from her perspective. She acknowledged that distance contributed to the problems but said it was not the only issue, without publicly detailing every other disagreement.

In a June 2025 appearance on the Almost Famous podcast, Nist said she had known about Turner’s cancer earlier than the public did. She said Turner had presented the illness as unlikely to affect his lifespan in the immediate future and emphasized that she would not have left a husband because he was sick.

Her comments leave room for the diagnosis to have influenced Turner’s own priorities, but she rejects the implication that she ended the marriage because of his illness. Accordingly, it would be inaccurate to report that Nist “left Turner because of cancer” or that the diagnosis was the definitive cause of the divorce.

What is Waldenström macroglobulinemia?

Waldenström macroglobulinemia is a type of lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. It involves abnormal B cells in the blood and bone marrow and the production of an immunoglobulin M, or IgM, protein.

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The disease is generally described as indolent, meaning it often grows slowly, although its effects and risks vary from person to person. Mayo Clinic notes that Waldenström macroglobulinemia is not classified using the conventional cancer staging system. Doctors instead assess risk using factors that can include a patient’s age and blood-test results.

Symptoms and complications can differ. The abnormal cells and IgM protein may affect blood flow, immunity, blood counts, or organs, but a diagnosis alone does not reveal how advanced or active an individual’s disease is.

Does a Waldenström diagnosis always require immediate treatment?

No. Mayo Clinic explains that treatment depends on symptoms, laboratory results, biopsy findings, overall health, and the patient’s preferences. Some people without significant symptoms are monitored under a “watch-and-wait” approach rather than beginning treatment immediately.

When treatment is needed, possible approaches can include targeted therapy, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, plasma exchange, and—in selected circumstances—stem-cell transplantation. The appropriate plan is highly individualized.

Turner has publicly described the condition as incurable and said he was working with a hematology-oncology group in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Public reporting does not establish his specific risk group, treatment regimen, current blood-test results, response to treatment, or prognosis. Those details should not be inferred from the diagnosis alone.

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Timeline of Turner and Nist’s relationship and diagnosis

Turner’s memoir adds his longer perspective

Turner later expanded his account in Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss, and Reality TV. The memoir covers grief after the death of his first wife, his experience on The Golden Bachelor, and lessons from his later relationships.

For readers who want Turner’s first-person account, Gerry Turner’s memoir, Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss, and Reality TV, is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook editions.

The book is relevant context, but it should be read as Turner’s recollection rather than independent confirmation of disputed events. Published coverage indicates that Turner and Nist disagree over aspects of how they remember the marriage and its aftermath.

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What can—and cannot—be concluded

• Documented: Turner was diagnosed with Waldenström macroglobulinemia after the wedding and before the couple announced their separation.
• Documented: The couple publicly cited difficulty deciding where to live, including the distance between their families and established homes.
• Turner’s view: The diagnosis changed his priorities and influenced his decisions about the marriage.
• Nist’s view: The diagnosis was not a factor in her decision to end the relationship, and she would not have left a husband because he was ill.
• Not established: That cancer was the sole cause of the split, that Nist left because Turner was sick, or that Turner was terminally ill.
• Not publicly established: Turner’s current treatment, disease status, risk group, laboratory results, or prognosis.

The most accurate account is therefore not that Turner’s cancer definitively caused the divorce. Rather, Turner says the diagnosis influenced the way he weighed the relationship, while Nist says it did not drive her decision to leave. The marriage ended amid that disagreement, along with the previously stated problem of where and how the couple would live.