Earlier this week, we reported that Suzanne Somers’ widower Alan Hamel appeared to have found love again with one of the Three’s Company actress’s former co-stars. Now, Hamel has confirmed that he is indeed dating the Golden Globe-winning actress Joanna Cassidy.
Hamel Confirms New Romance
“I don’t know where this relationship is going,” Hamel, 88, told Page Six. He went on to describe Cassidy, 79, as being an “extremely accomplished” actress that he has known for decades.
“I have known Joanna Cassidy for over 45 years,” Hamel continued. “Joanna was a guest star on [daytime talk show] The Alan Hamel Show in Canada in the ’70s. She was a great guest and it was a dynamic show, and we liked each other, not romantically, but mainly with respect. Both of us were married at the time.”
Hamel and Cassidy would later cross paths again when she starred with Somers in the 1985 miniseries Hollywood Wives. After Somers died in October of 2023 one day before her 77th birthday, Hamel and Cassidy reconnected through his son Stephen.
“My son met Joanna at a screening and after a long conversation suggested to Joanna that she and me would get along and should meet,” Hamel explained. “Stephen did not know we knew each other.”
Somers Wanted Hamel To Move On
Hamel knows that Somers would approve of this romance. Indeed, she urged him to move on from her in her final days.
“Don’t mope around,” he remembers her telling him. “Live your life. We will see one another after you cross over.”
Though Hamel doesn’t know where things are going with Cassidy, he has nothing but praise for her.
“Joanna is extremely accomplished,” he gushed. “She is easily the hardest-working and most active actress in Hollywood for well over 50 years. She’s a great mother to her adult children, turns up for many fundraisers for first responders and is staff for her four cats. She is no Hollywood BS, and we laugh a lot.”
“I’m fortunate to have Joanna in my life,” Hamel concluded. “Most men would love to have a Joanna in their life. I do not know where this relationship is going, but what I do know is that being in the cocktail hour of my life, I am blessed with a magnificent family — thanks to incredible Suzanne — a privileged life, and our business that we created 50 years ago.”
Somers And Cassidy’s History
Somers and Cassidy starred together in the 1985 miniseries Hollywood Wives. The official log-line for the miniseries describes it as being “a three-part, six-hour adaptation of Jackie Collins’ book about a group of very wealthy, attractive, snobbish women who are caught up in the low life and high society of Hollywood.”
Somers played Gina Germaine in the miniseries, while Cassidy played Marilee Gray. Hollywood Wives, which was broadcast in February of 1985, also starred legendary actors like Candice Bergen, Angie Dickinson and Anthony Hopkins.
Hamel and Cassidy were spotted on a romantic outing in Malibu, California on Monday. They were seen walking arm-in-arm near the Malibu Beach Inn on Carbon Beach. Hamel and Cassidy were even wearing matching hats that they’d bought at the hotel gift shop.
Hamel and Cassidy enjoyed a lobster lunch date at Broad Beach Oyster Company. They then left the area in a black SUV.
Hamel’s Grief For Somers
Hamel and Somers were married for 46 years before her death. In October of last year, on the one year anniversary of Somers’ death, Hamel opened up about how difficult it has been for him to lose her.
“Missing Suzanne is probably not a powerful enough word because for the past 55 years we didn’t even spend one hour apart,” Hamel said at the time. “It’s heartbreaking.”
“Suzanne and I were so close that she said when I wasn’t in the room she would miss me and I would miss her too – even though we were in the same house,” he continued. “We would actually go to sleep holding each other’s hands which was so special to me.”
Hamel went on to talk about how much his life had changed since losing Somers.
“Now for the first time in 55 years I’m alone; I have not lived alone much in my life – the only time was for two weeks and I hated it,” he lamented. “I was very young and I just didn’t like it.”
We’re so glad to see that Hamel has found love again. While Somers might be surprised that he’s dating one of her former co-stars, we can’t help but think that she would approve of the romance as well!
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