Gerry Turner Shares Update on Cancer Battle, Hopes to ‘Live Another Couple of Years’

The Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner has opened up about his health after being diagnosed with incurable cancer in December 2024.

Speaking to Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast on Tuesday (April 15), the 73-year-old reality star said he feels “great” despite being diagnosed with a slow-growing “bone marrow cancer” called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.

“Until I have any symptoms, there’s no treatment,” Turner told the hosts, per People. “So I go frequently for blood tests. I’m on, like, a six-month schedule now, and I feel optimistic because the doctor has said, ‘Well, when you turn 75, we’re going to have to go three-month increments.’ So it’s telling me that at least he expects me to live another couple of years to get to that. But the bottom line is I feel really good.”

When asked if there is any frustration having to wait for treatment, Turner shared a positive outlook, stating, “I mean this sincerely, from the time I got this diagnosis, it’s a privilege to live like you’re dying. I don’t turn down anything. I feel like I’m more open to emotions. I’m more open to experiences.”

Turner rose to fame as the lead in the first season of The Golden Bachelor, the Bachelor spinoff featuring a cast of senior citizens. In the November 2023 finale, Turner proposed to 70-year-old Theresa Nist. The pair tied the knot in a live ABC special on January 4, 2024; however, they divorced just three months later.

During his appearance on Bachelor Happy Hour, Turner revealed, “I am dating someone,” adding, “I think, at this point, it’s going well.”

“But I don’t want to say too much and jinx it,” he continued. “I’m trying to, respectfully, get to a point where there’s an acceptable amount of time from my divorce. Maybe that’s an old-fashioned thought, maybe it doesn’t matter as much as I think it does, but to be respectful, I kind of want to slow roll this.”

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Turner admitted that he’s told Nist about the new relationship, revealing, “We had a really nice conversation. I let her know.”

The new woman in Turner’s life is part of the reason he’s now saying ‘yes’ to everything. “The person I’m dating will say, ‘Do you want to go do-’ And before she even gets out the rest of the sentence, I will say yes. So I’m in on everything,” he shared.

“And it makes life exciting because you kind of in the back of your head feel like you’ve got a lot of living to do and you don’t know how long you have to do it, so don’t turn down anything. And so, in a way, it’s really a good thing,” Turner concluded.