Suzanne Somers’ Widower, Alan Hamel, Opens Up About His Grief

Suzanne Somers’ widower, television host Alan Hamel, 89, is sharing his grief over the loss of the Three’s Company actress and wellness expert, who died in 2023 from breast cancer. The two were married for 45 years.

Somers had faced multiple bouts of cancer throughout her life. When the disease returned in her 70s, Hamel told Woman’s World, he wasn’t ready to lose her.

During their last days together, Hamel said, they’d “had a lot of conversations.” Somers told him she wanted him to “live your life, because you have a great life ahead of you, and I don’t want you to walk around all depressed.

“In fact, I moped around for a year and a half after she passed,” Hamel said, adding that he had turned to family for support: “For the first two and a half months, I was never alone.

“I either had my kids, my grandkids or I had both at the same time,” he explained. “They were either keeping me company or cooking for me. What kept me going was everyone was upbeat, and we would tell great stories about Suzanne. They called her Zanny.”

Hamel also mentioned he’d received more than 35,000 emails from people expressing their sympathy, which he found uplifting.

Somers and Hamel met in 1969 on the set of the classic game show The Anniversary Game, which he hosted. She was working there as a prize model.

Alan Hamel and Suzanne Somers attend the 30th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in 2019.

Patrick McMullan/Getty Image

Earlier this year, Hamel started dating actress Joanna Cassidy, 80. He didn’t take the decision lightly, saying he “wanted to find someone I could connect with and talk to, where we could have good conversations.

“I have a lot of female friends, and I think it’s because I know a lot about women’s personal health because of all the work Suzanne did on the subject while she was alive,” Hamel said. “I called two of my female friends, who are married, by the way, and asked if they would have lunch with me so I could get comfortable with the idea of being with someone other than Suzanne.”

Hamel believes Somers “would be really happy that I am spending my time with Joanna.”

In 2017, Somers shared with AARP a daily practice she used to express gratitude for her relationship with Hamel.

“Every morning I get up, and I do a meditation of gratitude for the love I have in my life, my wonderful husband, my wonderful children, the work I get to do, the country I get to live in,” she said. “I think happiness is something you can choose.”

AARP offers resources for people struggling with grief. You can find them here.