Golden Bachelor’s Theresa Nist is opening up about her ex Gerry Turner’s claims that his cancer diagnosis played a role in their split — and why she’s nervous about his new book.
“It was a zero factor. Zero. I was just so surprised that he even said that,” Nist, 71, said during the Thursday, June 5, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast hosted by Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti. (Nist expressed similar sentiments in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly in April.)
The former couple announced they were heading for divorce in April 2024, with Turner, 73, telling People in December that year that his incurable bone marrow cancer diagnosis had a “huge bearing on my decisions and I think probably Theresa’s as well.”
Nist, however, shared her version of events during Thursday’s podcast appearance. “There was zero conversation about that. If that was the reason, it was in his mind only. Never discussed,” she said. “It had nothing to do with it. I would never have left my husband over an illness. That’s just not me, that wouldn’t happen.”
Nist went on to share that her “biggest fear” now is what Turner else may write about their relationship in his upcoming memoir, Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss, and Reality TV, which is set for publication in November.
“I have no idea what he’s writing,” she said. Later she explained, “We never really had the conversation that led to the breakup. Things just happened. Gerry said at one point, ‘This isn’t going to work out, is it?’ and that was the end of it,” she said. “Nothing was discussed. And not one discussion about his being ill being the reason. That’s what makes me get concerned about what he could possibly say in a book.”
Nist and Turner met on the inaugural season of Golden Bachelor, which aired in 2023. They got engaged in the season finale and wed in a live television special in January 2024, before calling it quits just a few months later.
For Nist’s part, she believes things “worked out the way it was supposed to work out.”
“I really am happy for him. If he had to go find his person by going this circuitous route … he found someone that really suits him. That’s wonderful,” she said, referring to Turner’s new romance with girlfriend Lana Sutton.
As for where their relationship stands now, Nist described it in one word: “Distant.”
“He really does want to talk to me a lot. He wants to keep the friendship, but I really haven’t reciprocated,” she said.
Us Weekly has reached out to Turner for comment.
