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Suzanne Somers’ widower Alan Hamel and his new girlfriend, Joanna Cassidy, are opening up about their new romance.

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“I know a lot of people and I have a lot of wonderful friends, but I’ve never gone out of my way to connect with people,” the former television host told People magazine about meeting Cassidy, which he said “just happened naturally.”

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The 89-year-old admitted to Cassidy that while he has introduced her to many of his friends, “there’s still a whole pack of them that you haven’t met yet.”

He continued: “These are people that we just met somewhere, and a relationship happened, and it marinated over a bunch of years and brought along other people. And that’s really it. I never put any real energy into it.”

Somers and Hamel were married for 46 years before she died on Oct. 15, 2023, one day before her 77th birthday, after a long battle with breast cancer.

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Hamel mourned the loss of his wife for months before reconnecting with Cassidy, who he had known for decades after she appeared as a guest on his show years ago.

Cassidy also starred with Somers in the 1985 miniseries Hollywood Wives.

“I’m blessed. I’m grateful for that. And I’m grateful for the relationship that I have with Joanna. It’s very special,” Hamel said of the 80-year-old actress.

The couple did acknowledge that they don’t know how to refer to one another, given their age.

“We were talking about it the other day — do you call me your boyfriend, or did we leave that in high school?” Hamel asked Cassidy.

“It’s really weird to use the term ‘boyfriend’ at this place in life. So we talked about different things like ‘companion’ and ‘partner.’”

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Cassidy joked, “You’re a buddy,” to which Hamel replied, “You’re more than my buddy. You’re a lot more than my buddy.”

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Hamel noted that they live in different cities — he in the desert, she in Los Angeles — and that’s part of the allure.

“It’d be a lot easier if we lived in the same city, because when we do get together, it’s for a number of days,” he detailed.

Hamel revealed that the most time they’ve “been able to spend six and a half days together,” adding later in the interview that their long-distance relationship allows them to “sit on the phone for hours.”

The widower admitted that he’s never lived alone, and called it a “whole new experience” that he didn’t like.

“And it’s not that I want to live with anybody at this point. I don’t think I’m ready to do that,” he added, before reiterating, “But I’m grateful, and I’m really grateful for the relationship I have with Joanna.”

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