Former Golden Bachelor revealed he was diagnosed with cancer weeks before his split from .
While opening up about his divorce from Theresa, which shocked Bachelor Nation after just two months of marriage, Gerry revealed his health struggle was why he hadn’t wanted to talk about the details of their separation — until now.
“I think it’s time, also because it probably will clear up a lot of mystery around what happened back in February, March and April,” Gerry told People in an interview published on Wednesday, December 11. “As 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.”
Gerry explained that he had a shoulder injury three years ago and did not go to the orthopedic surgeon at the time. When he ultimately went to the doctor, the orthopedic surgeon noted that Gerry had “unusual blood markers.”
“And so an orthopedic surgeon went to my family doctor, my family doctor referred me to an oncologist, and now I’m working with a hematology-oncology group in Fort Wayne,” Gerry said.
He was diagnosed with a slow-growing “bone marrow cancer” with a “really long name” called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.
“Unfortunately, there’s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make,” he said. “It was like 10 tons of concrete were just dropped on me. And I was a bit in denial for a while, I didn’t want to admit to it.”
While he initially received information from his oncologists that he had a “blood disorder,” Gerry said he “pretty much” knew it was cancer. After disclosing his health update to Theresa in February, Gerry received more testing and a bone marrow biopsy.
Gerry recalled deciding to “tell her what I knew and I explained the situation to her” in March. While reflecting on telling Theresa the diagnosis, he said, “Certainly, it was hard for me.”
“But the conversation was brief and I think [she was] a little bit awestruck by the news,” he said. So understandable.”
“I wanted my life to continue on as normal as possible, and that led me to believing that as normal as possible more meant spending time with my family, my two daughters, my two son-in-laws, my granddaughters,” he continued. “And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority.”
Gerry called the “judgements” made about his divorce from Theresa “unfair” to the couple, who tied the knot in January.
“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,” he said. “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.”
While anticipating the fan reaction to his health update, Gerry hoped that “they’ll look at things a little bit differently, that maybe it wasn’t quite a rash, fast decision that people thought. That there was something else going on.”
As he moves forward, Gerry said he doesn’t plan on saying “no to anything” and has taken ’s “Live Like You’re Dying” to heart.
“I’m going to pack as much fun as I possibly can into my life and enjoy every moment. And when I’m gone, I’m gone, but I’m not going to have regrets,” he said.
Gerry also had nothing but well wishes for Theresa, noting that he hopes “all of the good luck in the world” for her, and that she “finds everything she wants to.”
“That glamour and starstruck, whirlwind time was really a cherished memory,” he said. “It was wonderful, and I certainly wish it would’ve had a different ending, that we would’ve found our way, that we would’ve found solutions to a problem. And most of all, that I would not have had a diagnosis that so strongly influenced my decisions and the direction I went.”
Theresa, for her part, reacted to the diagnosis on Wednesday and shut down rumors that his health battle led to their divorce.
Theresa told People that his cancer “wasn’t a factor in the ending of the relationship, at least not for me.” She explained, “If that was something on his part, maybe, I don’t know. But no, that didn’t factor into ending the relationship. Part of it was the distance, but that wasn’t the only part. That’s really all I will say.”
While Theresa and Gerry have not remained in contact since their separation, she sent a message to her former husband in the interview.
“I wish him the best and that I know that he was in a very difficult situation and that good things will come to him,” she 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.”
