The Golden Bachelor winner Theresa Nist has spoken out about Gerry Turner's cancer diagnosis and how it allegedly didn't play a role in their decision to divorce.
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Gerry, 72, just announced on Wednesday, December 11 that he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in March, only weeks before he and Theresa publicly announced their split in April following three months of marriage.
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Gerry told People that in attempt to live a "normal" life, as much as possible, he came to the conclusion that he wanted to spend time with his family and so making his marriage to Theresa work was "less of a priority."
However, Theresa, 71, has shared a different version of the story with People.
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Theresa said Gerry informed her of his cancer diagnosis when she visited him in Indiana in March.
Gerry's diagnosis of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia "wasn't a factor in the ending of the relationship, at least not for me," according to Theresa.
"If that was something on his part, maybe, I don't know. But no, that didn't factor into ending the relationship."
Theresa, however, pointed out how Gerry's cancer was "devastating news" for her to learn.
"I was extremely upset," Theresa recalled. "He told me though, that it was the type of cancer that he would most likely outlive."
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Theresa said Gerry is "a very positive person" and so he maintained an optimistic outlook on the future.
"I am too, and I know that he will do the best that he can to make this a positive experience," Theresa shared.
"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."
Since Theresa believes cancer had nothing to do with her divorce from Gerry, which was finalized in June, she explained what went wrong, from her perspective.
"Part of it was the distance, but that wasn't the only part. That's really all I will say," Theresa teased.
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Theresa is still holding down a job in finance in her native New Jersey, while Gerry -- who was born in Iowa -- is a retired restaurateur who lives on a lake in Indiana.
When the pair announced their split in April, they said that neither person wanted to relocate since it meant having to leave family and friends behind.
Theresa also noted how four weeks of The Golden Bachelor was a "very short span of time to get to know someone, and it's a very accelerated pace."
"During that four weeks, it's not that you're with that person every day anyway. There were only certain times that I was with him one-on-one," Theresa said.
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Theresa had also been hoping that she and Gerry would move to Charleston, SC, following their early January 2024 wedding, which was televised live on ABC for the world to see.
"That was the plan. I was selling my home. He was selling his home," Theresa noted.
Although Theresa's son lives in South Carolina, she insisted that she wasn't "forcing" Gerry to move there and he had mentioned how he was "sick" of his lake house in Indiana.
"[But] Gerry, after he got back home, he kind of changed his mind," Theresa explained.
"He said, 'No, let's do it six weeks here and six weeks there.' And I didn't want to do that. I really wanted a home together. I wanted the joy of being in a home together and designing a home together."
Theresa thought creating a new home with Gerry was "going to be phenomenal" and she was "looking forward to that so much."
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Theresa recalled how she and Gerry had looked at homes virtually but never followed through with renting or buying.
"We never got there, and it never happened. So that would've been a thing to do differently, to actually go to South Carolina and go see things and see them in person instead of just looking at them online because that wasn't enough," Theresa explained.
"I think it just petered out that we were looking at homes back and forth and we could never agree on one. And then the emails just stopped, [and] we weren't looking anymore."
Theresa shared how she and Gerry barely talk these days but some of their daughters are still in touch.
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With what would have been their first wedding anniversary right around the corner, Theresa admitted January 4 is going to be a "bittersweet" date.
"Sometimes I just can't believe that I got married and divorced this year," Theresa sighed with a smile.
"How did that happen? How did this all happen? So much happened to me, both good and bad, but I never like to regret anything. I like to say we all learn lessons from what happens to us."
Theresa said happiness is found by "not having what you want but wanting what you already have," and she has apparently learned to appreciate her life even more than before.
"I was very appreciative before, but I think I'm more settled and relaxed and not so anxious or upset about anything," Theresa continued in her interview with People.
"Not that I was upset before, but I do really appreciate where I am in life."
And Theresa also said that she wishes Gerry all "the best."
"I know that he was in a very difficult situation and that good things will come to him," Theresa said.
"And I wish for him a long and healthy, prosperous life, and I hope that he finds his person. I want him to be so happy, and I just wish him all the best of everything in the world."
Theresa and Gerry's marriage proposal aired on The Golden Bachelor finale in November 2023.
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