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Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner’s journey came to an end — but not because of his health battle.
The reality star who found love with Turner on Season 1 of “The Golden Bachelor” revealed that the pair “absolutely” didn’t split over his cancer diagnosis.
“It was a zero factor, zero. Absolutely. I was just so surprised that he even said that,” Nist said on Thursday’s episode of “The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast.” “I knew about the cancer a long time ago. And the way Gary presented it to me was that, ‘The doctor said that I’m going to die of old age before this cancer gets to me.’”
“He bluffed it off, like it really wasn’t that important,” she continued. “And he had no symptoms, and he still doesn’t. So we never had a conversation that said, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re sick. I can’t stay with you now. I have to leave.’ That never happened.”
Turner and Nist first got engaged at the end of 2023 on the show before saying “I do” on a TV special in January 2024. But by April of that year, the exes announced in an interview with “Good Morning America” that they were divorcing.
In December 2024, Turner revealed he had been diagnosed with a blood cell cancer, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, claiming it played into their split.
The reality star also noted that he and Nist each wanted to live close to their families in different states.
“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,” Turner told People. “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.”
“They interviewed him the day before they interviewed me,” Nist continued on the podcast. “And right before my interview, they contacted me, and they said, ‘Hey, we want to talk to you right now, because Gerry just came out and said that his illness was the reason you broke up.’ And I go, ‘What?’ I said, ‘No, it wasn’t that.’ There was zero conversation about that being in it.”
Although, at the time, the New Jersey resident felt maybe Turner believed what he was saying.
“If that was the reason, it was in his mind only, never discussed as a reason. He said it was a factor that weighed heavily into my decision. And I would imagine Theresa’s, too,” Nist confessed. “He just imagined. But it had nothing to do with it. Nothing. I would have never left my husband over in illness. I stayed with my husband, Billy. I mean, for years he was sick, and he passed away at home. He was in hospice. I mean, it was really pretty bad. But I would never leave … That’s just not me. That wouldn’t happen.”
Turner, meanwhile, revealed in April, per TMZ, that he’s dating a retired school teacher named Lana, who also lives in Indiana.
“I really am happy for him,” Nist, who’s also dating, stated. “And if he had to find his person by going this circuitous route, then he did, then it was successful. He found someone that really suits him, and that’s wonderful. So I think it worked out the way it was supposed to work out.”
In September, the finance whiz made it clear she had no hard feelings toward Turner.
“So Gerry and I have spoken,” Nist exclusively told The Post in September 2024. “We don’t speak regularly. I would say I wish him all the best, and I can see that he has so many friends, and I’m so happy for him that he does.”
“I truly hope he finds his person,” she added, “because he wants that, and he deserves that, and I’m rooting for him. I’m in his corner.”
At the time, Nist shared what she was looking for in her perfect suitor.
“Sense of humor,” she detailed. “Let’s laugh together. Smart. Somebody smart. And then I have to be physically attracted to the person, so there has to be chemistry. And that’s something that you can not define, it’s undefinable. You just either are attracted to someone, or you’re not.”
Nist noted, “It’s just the ability to have fun together and to support each other, make each other laugh, and have each other’s backs.”