Alan Hamel stepped out into the bright California sunshine with a familiar woman on his arm. Both wore matching baseball caps from a local Malibu inn as they walked into a seafood spot.
The sight of the eighty-eight-year-old widower with Joanna Cassidy immediately caught people off guard. Word traveled fast across social feeds, and everyone had an opinion to share.
Alan Hamel, 88, confirms romance with late wife Suzanne Somers’ co-star Joanna Cassidy https://t.co/Uq0mXmXGgI pic.twitter.com/YjZ5HkWzkH
— Page Six (@PageSix) June 25, 2025
A casual lunch turned into an undeniable public shock.
Their connection did not start in Malibu. Hamel first met Cassidy forty-five years ago when she appeared as a guest on his Canadian talk show, back when both were married to other people.
They crossed paths again in 1985 on the set of Hollywood Wives, where Cassidy starred alongside Suzanne Somers. Hamel later described that encounter by noting, “It was very cordial.”
Decades drifted by without romance. Then Hamel’s son Stephen met Cassidy at a screening, had a long talk, and urged his father to meet her, having no idea they already had history.
A blind recommendation unlocked forty five years of forgotten history.
When they finally reconnected, the chemistry was instant. Hamel praised her energy, saying, “She is no Hollywood BS, and we laugh a lot,” while highlighting her career and volunteer work.
Cassidy felt that immediate spark as well. She admitted that their very first date lasted three days, explaining, “I found myself falling into a place that felt very comfortable.”
She started calling him by the nickname Ah, matching his initials. She noted she had lived alone comfortably for years, but nobody else had ever left such a powerful impression on her.
Not everyone looking on was ready to celebrate this sudden turn.
The public reaction was divided down the middle. Some supporters cheered his joy, while skeptics questioned the timing after the loss of Somers, who passed away in October 2023.
Hamel knew he carried Somers’ full support. Before she died of breast cancer, she explicitly told him, “Don’t mope around. Live your life. We will see one another after you cross over.”
He spent forty six married years with Somers and wrote her a letter on her final night. He called their journey a magical bond that no common words could ever truly summarize.
Living in the present became a quiet promise kept to the past.
Now standing in what he calls the cocktail hour of life, Hamel embraces this unexpected chapter. He remains thankful for his past while walking forward into a warm, shared future.
