Even Suzanne Somers‘ oldest friends were shocked by her death. On this morning’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Barry Manilow looked back on his close friendship with the actress, who died in October 2023 at the age of 76.
While chatting from the Barrymore Theatre, the talk show host asked Manilow about his close friendships with some of pop culture’s most iconic figures.
“She was a great — I didn’t know she was that ill,” the singer said of Somers. “We were friends for like 35 years. Just a good, good person — good inside.”
He added, “That was a tragedy. That was a really sad moment for me.”
A spokesperson for the Three’s Company star confirmed that she had “died peacefully at home in the early morning hours of Oct. 15,” adding that she “survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years,” per The Los Angeles Times.
While Somers is best known for her acting and ThighMaster infomercials, Manilow revealed that she was also a bit of a culinary expert.
“She was just a great person,” he told Barrymore. “[She] tried to get me to eat, always. Always cooking for me — constantly cooking for me. Every time I went over to her house.”
Manilow previously opened up to People about his relationship with Somers, whom he called “the sister [he] never had” and his “close confidant forever.”
“We shared triumphs and heartaches,” he told the outlet. “Her fame in so many fields overshadowed her real talent as one of our greatest comedic actors, a loving mother, an amazing homemaker, and one of the world’s best cooks. I will miss her dearly and hope that she is now out of pain and at peace.”
Somers was first diagnosed with breast cancer more than 20 years ago. However, she announced that the cancer had returned just a few months before she passed away.
“As you know, I had breast cancer two decades ago, and every now and then it pops up again, and I continue to bat it down,” she wrote in a July Instagram post. “I have used the best alternative and conventional treatments to combat it. This is not new territory for me. I know how to put on my battle gear and I’m a fighter.”
The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.
