Suzanne Somers recently went through another bout with cancer, according to her husband Alan Hamel.
The Step by Step star, 76, hasn’t appeared on her popular Facebook Live show as of late, sparking concern among fans, who wondered where she has been.
Now, the Canadian entertainer is giving insight into his wife’s health struggles, opening up about her lifelong battle with different types of the disease—including a breast cancer diagnosis in her 50s, as well as skin cancer in her 30s.
“Suzanne has lived with cancer all her life,” Hamel told PageSix, adding, “In her 20s, she’d also dealt with two hyperplasia… which is the waiting room for cancer.”
The 87-year-old continued, saying, “She has now dealt with her cancer once again,” sharing that “on June 6, she got an all-clear, but cancer is tricky and we will now closely monitor everything going forward.”
Hamel added: “All her doctors said if she didn’t lead a chemical-free, organic life supported by bio-identical hormones, she wouldn’t be with us.”
After her breast cancer diagnosis in 2000, Somers prioritized wellness by turning to healthier life habits, including getting more sleep, switching to an all-organic diet, and removing food and beauty products from her regimen that included chemical ingredients.
“I have to say that since I embraced health, I have never enjoyed life more. I like the way I look. I like the way I feel. I like my energy… I can tell you that aging can be so incredible if you know how to approach it. It takes a little bit of work,” the actress said in a 2021 interview with Park.
In addition to breast cancer, the Three’s Company star also previously opened up about having cancer “three times” while filming the iconic 1970s-80s sitcom—something she wondered if birth control pills contributed to, which she started taking in the ’60s. “They call it severe hyperplasia in your uterus. I didn’t make a big deal about it. In my 30s, I got a malignant melanoma in my back,” she recalled to CBS in 2020.
Though she is currently cancer-free, Hamel said, “We decided to put work on the back burner for now and focus on her health,” while admitting that the actress is, additionally, still healing from a 2020 injury where she fell down some stairs at home, requiring surgery at the time.
“She also broke her neck in a terrible fall and the concussion created a bad case of hydrocephalus, which impacted her balance and walking,” he included.
Meanwhile, in Somers’ absence, her Facebook show has turned into a family affair, hosted by her son Bruce Somer Jr.‘s wife and her daughter-in-law, Caroline Somers, as well as Caroline’s grown daughters and Hamel’s daughter, Leslie Hamel.
“It’s turned into this really wonderful family affair,” Hamel gushed.
In other shows she stepped away from (for completely different reasons), Somers opened up in May about why she turned down a hosting spot on The View after being offered the gig.
