Alan Hamel was mourning the loss of his wife, Suzanne Somers, when he crossed paths with a familiar face.
The former television host recently confirmed his new romance with “Blade Runner” actress Joanna Cassidy, who was a guest on his show decades ago. Cassidy, 80, also starred with Somers in the 1985 miniseries “Hollywood Wives.” According to Hamel, 89, the pair ran into each other months ago.
“There was that connection,” he told Fox News Digital. “And we’ve spent a lot of time being with each other, which is great. And I’m almost 10 years older than her, so I’m Joanna’s older man. She’s always wanted an older man. And I came along… We have both been very active in the entertainment business most of our lives, so neither one of us has anything to prove. We’ve both relaxed into what I refer to as the cocktail hour of our lives.”
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Somers, who famously starred as Chrissy Snow in the sitcom “Three’s Company,” died in 2023 at age 76. The actress battled breast cancer for over 23 years. She and Hamel were married from 1977 until her death.
Hamel admitted that “it was odd” stepping into the dating scene after enjoying a happy marriage for so long.
“Suzanne and I used to go out on dates once a week, sometimes twice,” he shared. “We’d get dressed up, go to a nice restaurant, order a nice bottle of wine, and sit there, enjoying the evening and each other. That went for 55 years, even before we were officially married. So, I was used to dating. I love dating. So, when I felt ready to date again, I did not want some gossip [magazine] saying, ‘Alan is now dating.’”
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“So, what I did was invite a lot of female friends,” he shared. “I’m not romantically involved with any of them, but I would invite two of them who know each other really well to go on a date with me. The three of us went on a date. If someone looked at the three of us, obviously, they knew it wasn’t a romantic date. But those were the first dates I took on. And it felt good. I remembered how much fun dating was.”
As Hamel quietly grieved, he was encouraged to meet up with Cassidy. The connection was instant.
“It was quite natural,” Cassidy told Fox News Digital about their first date. “I found myself falling into a place that felt very comfortable. I felt very much at ease… I think our first date lasted three days.”
“I also believe that, energetically, you can draw the right people to you,” she shared. “I mostly don’t call Alan ‘Alan.’ I call him ‘Ah.’ It also happens to be his initials. It just seems like the right name for our mystical get-togetherness. And look, I was quite prepared to move along. I’ve lived alone for a long time. I’ve met people, but no one really floated my boat like Alan did. I just met him, and I went, ‘Wow, this is a solid connection. This is great.’”
Hamel is also fulfilling a promise he made to his late wife during the last days of her life.
“When we knew the end was near, she said to me, ‘Once I’m gone, I don’t want you to mope around,’” Hamel recalled. “’I want you to live your life.’ I told her OK. But then she looked at me and said, ‘I’m serious. I don’t want you to mope around.’ Again, I said OK.”
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“When Suzanne passed, I was suddenly living alone,” he said. “But I have this incredible family. There’s not one dud among them – three kids and six grandkids. I see some of them weekly… And after Suzanne passed, they made sure I was never alone for the first two and a half months. We would sit around, tell stories about Suzanne, have all the big laughs, look back at photographs and hundreds of hours of tapes. It’s been wonderful… And along came Joanna. She has been my only date since she arrived on the scene, which I’m grateful for.”
“If a relationship is long and happy, and suddenly your partner disappears, I think there can still be hope,” he reflected.
Hamel noted the modern approach to dating has never felt right to him.
“I’ve never been on a dating site,” he said. “What I keep hearing is that they’re dangerous. People put pictures of themselves that were taken 40 years ago. It’s hard to believe anything anybody says on a dating site. Now I’m sure there are legit sites, but I have no interest in them at all.”
And Cassidy is different, he chuckled.
“Joanna is very active in things that I would never attempt to do, like air bungee. She also takes these classes where she’s inside a silk envelope upside down, suspended in the air doing yoga. Who thinks this stuff up? Meanwhile, I’m into relaxing. I’m an expert at sitting still. I love putting my brain in neutral and just staring. When people say, ‘What are you thinking about?’ The answer is nothing. But Joanna’s brain is the antithesis of mine. It’s going 24/7. The expression, ‘ants in your pants,’ applies to her. She’s constantly in motion. She never stops. I’m just sitting.”
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“I have a landscaping business,” Cassidy boasted. “I’m a photographer, designer, gardener, animal rescuer, and I still work in show business. I have a movie coming out in October, “Killing Faith” with Bill Pullman. And I just finished a film with Beverly D’Angelo… It’s very hard for me to sit still. I have to constantly keep busy, constantly be in motion. And there are lots of things that I love to do, things that bring my life joy every day. I think that’s very important to have. And Alan knows that.”
Hamel also keeps busy making sure Somers’ legacy is kept alive. He and his family are hands-on in running SuzanneSomers.com, where fans can purchase her beauty and wellness products. They’re active on her social media accounts and share her words of wisdom when it comes to health. They are also in the process of launching a “Suzanne AI” where fans can “interact with her one-on-one.”
Hamel and Cassidy are happily enjoying their blossoming romance. They remained coy when asked if love was in the air.
“I love love,” said Hamel. “I cherish love – all kinds of love. I have friends I love. There are so many different kinds of love. But in terms of romantic love, I don’t think there could be anything greater than when two people suddenly find that they’re attracted to one another in many different ways. There’s an uncovering of layers.”
“I think that love is when you’re willing to really put yourself aside and make that other person your focus,” chimed Cassidy. “I think it has to do with the ego going away and dissolving. It’s about really being able to listen to someone else. I find that you go into a state of awe. I’ll go, ‘Wow, I am really present with this person.’ And you won’t hear me say the word ‘love’ a lot. I am very quiet about that. It’s because it means so much to me. It has to be really true.”
And it’s never too late to embark on a new romantic journey, she insisted.
“Don’t give up,” she said. “There are billions of people on the planet. It’s difficult to trust people. But I think if you stay in a very hopeful place and have positive thoughts, life can open up to you in unexpected ways.”
