Gerry Turner, the reality TV star known for his tumultuous turn as the first “Golden Bachelor,” announced on Wednesday that he had been diagnosed with a form of blood cancer.
Mr. Turner, 73, said in an interview with People that he had been diagnosed earlier this year with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, a slow-growing lymphoma that affects blood cells and bone marrow.
“It was like 10 tons of concrete were just dropped on me,” Mr. Turner said of the diagnosis in the interview. “And I was a bit in denial for a while, I didn’t want to admit to it.”
Mr. Turner did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The disease is incurable but can sometimes be managed with treatments, including chemotherapy, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Mr. Turner said he was working with a hematology-oncology group in Fort Wayne, Ind., but did not specify what type of treatment he was receiving.
Mr. Turner stood out as a septuagenarian reality TV star as the lead of “The Golden Bachelor,” a spinoff of ABC’s long-running dating show with an older cast that began airing last year. Mr. Turner won fans with his optimistic message about finding love late in life — a rarity on dating shows.
“People my age still fall in love,” he told The New York Times last year, before the show’s premiere. “People my age still have hope, and they still have vigorous lives.”
