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Golden Bachelor <\/span><\/i><\/a>alum Gerry Turner<\/strong><\/a> revealed he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer earlier this year, which played a major factor in his decision to divorce<\/a> ex-wife Theresa Nist<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a topic that I haven\u2019t wanted to talk about until now,\u201d Gerry, 72, told <\/span>People <\/span><\/i><\/a>in an interview published on Wednesday, December 11. \u201cI think it\u2019s time, also because it probably will clear up a lot of mystery around what happened back in February, March and April.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While the couple originally claimed the difficulty in agreeing where to live as newlyweds was the reason for their split, the reality star now says it was his cancer diagnosis that was the deciding factor.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs Theresa and I were trying very hard to find our lifestyle and where we were going to live and how we were going to make our life work, I was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Gerry was diagnosed with Waldenstr\u00f6m\u2019s macroglobulinemia, a slow-growing form of bone marrow cancer. <\/span>According to the Mayo Clinic<\/a>, Waldenstr\u00f6m\u2019s macroglobulinemia is a \u201ctype of cancer that begins in the white blood cells\u201d and \u201cis considered a type of non-Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma. It\u2019s sometimes called lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Indiana native went on to explain that his cancer was discovered after he \u201cfinally got around\u201d to seeing a doctor about a shoulder injury he sustained three years ago while teaching a pickleball class.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe orthopedic surgeon said, \u2018Yeah Gerry, there\u2019s not much we can do for your shoulder, but there are some unusual blood markers here.\u2019 And so an orthopedic surgeon went to my family doctor, my family doctor referred me to an oncologist, and now I\u2019m working with a hematology-oncology group in Fort Wayne,\u201d Gerry continued, adding that he was \u201ca bit in denial for a while.\u201d \u201cUnfortunately, there\u2019s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Gerry and Theresa, 71, met during season 1 of <\/span>The Golden Bachelor. <\/span><\/i>They fell in love and got engaged during the season finale. Shortly after the season aired, the pair tied the knot during a televised ceremony on January 4. Theresa later revealed that their rush down the aisle was largely due to there being \u201ca time constraint on the offer<\/a>\u201d for a lavish Palm Springs, California, wedding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, the <\/span>Golden <\/span><\/i>couple shocked the world just three months later when they announced their divorce<\/a> during an interview with <\/span>Good Morning America.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n At the time, Gerry said, \u201cWe\u2019ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it\u2019s probably time for us to dissolve our marriage. The thing that strikes me the most and in our conversations, it\u2019s been how dedicated both of us are to our families. So, we look at these situations and I think we just feel like it\u2019s best for the happiness of each of us to live apart.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n