Somers' husband and son spoke with ET on Monday about the actress' death after decades of battling cancer.
In the wake of Suzanne Somers' death, the actress' husband, Alan Hamel, and her son, Bruce Somers, are reflecting on her life, her passing, and the memories of their time together.
Alan, 87, and Bruce, 57, spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier on Monday, and Alan shared an update on how he's been doing since Suzanne's death early Sunday morning.
"I have my family around me and have had since this happened. And they haven't told me this, but I think there was a plan: 'Make sure he's not alone.' And I love that," Alan shared. "When I think about what happened, I lose it, and then I regain it. And it's probably going to be that way for a while until things settle down. But I lost half of me."
"I think yesterday we were in a bubble, and it was it was special to all be together," Bruce shared. "Today, the overwhelming outpouring of love from everyone is heartfelt, but it's a whole additional wave of emotion as well."
"Yesterday, she was just mom, and today she's back to being Suzanne Somers in everyone's eyes. And I appreciate that," Bruce added. "And I appreciate everything that she's done. She has touched so many people."
The actress, best known for her roles in Three's Company and Step by Step, died on Sunday at age 76. Suzanne died at 5 a.m., one day ahead of her 77th birthday, surrounded by her loved ones.
"I was with her in bed at 5 o'clock in the morning, and so it was peaceful," Alan shared. "And I was glad that our whole family could come and see her. It was a beautiful experience."
In her final days, Alan explained that they couldn't get her to respond to much, as she got weaker.
"We couldn't get anything out of her. She wasn't talking at the end. The last couple of days she stopped eating, stopped talking, wouldn't take her medicine and we didn't know if she was alive or not," Alan said. "I kept taking her blood pressure, but she wouldn't respond. She was not responsive in any way."
"Then, when I kissed her, she responded, kissing me back, and I knew that she heard what I was saying," he continued. "I had talked to her for hours, well into the night, hoping that she could hear me. And I think she did hear me."
According to Alan, the family "knew this day would come," but he never thought he'd be there to have to see it.
"We thought it would be me [first] because I'm 10 years older than Suzanne. And then I thought, 'What a conundrum! If it's me first, then she's alone. I don't want her to be alone,'" Alan said. Over the past 42 years we have not spent even one hour apart. And my son, Bruce, refers to it as 'functionally co-dependent,' which I guess it was."
"From my point of view, they were inseparable," Bruce chimed in. "Alan is very private, doesn't want to be a public person. My mother loved being in the public, and so he protected her."
The news of Suzanne's death was confirmed by her publicist and longtime friend, R. Couri Hay, in a statement to ET, which explained that the actress "survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years" before her death.
"She had cancer every decade from her twenties. I know that because I was with her," Alan said, detailing the different forms of cancer that Suzanne had battled and overcome throughout her life. "She fought and fought and fought, and used every possible kind of healthcare... whatever was right. And it looked like she was going to make it. And then it just overwhelmed her."
According to Bruce, his mother's decline was "actually pretty rapid," and she'd been standing strong against her illness for years.
"During the last year or so, when she was in pain, I'd ask her, 'Are you in pain?' And she said, 'So much it's not even worth talking about it.' And that's her strength, just to push it out," Bruce shared. "And somewhere in the middle of that, at every holiday, she was present. We were having these beautiful exchanges, and she even managed to cook her incredible meals at Thanksgiving, and [we had] all of those wonderful experiences."
In July, Suzanne exclusively told ET that her breast cancer had returned. At the time, the Step by Step star said she had plans to continue to fight.
"I have been living with cancer since my 20’s. And every time that little f**ker pops up, I continue to bat it back. I do my best not to let this insidious disease control me," her statement read. "It's a recurrence of my breast cancer. Like any cancer patient, when you get that dreaded, 'It's back' you get a pit in your stomach. Then I put on my battle gear and go to war. This is a familiar battleground for me and I’m very tough."
Suzanne credited her family for helping her get through her decades-long battle.
"My cancer is a disease that affected my whole family and once it hit me in my 20s, Alan and I got even closer and every moment of every day was precious. We have not spent even one day apart in over 42 years. That’s the big upside of my cancer," she said. "My son refers to our relationship as functionally co-dependent. And my incredible family has been unbelievably supportive every step of the way."
The actress was public about her health issues. In her thirties, Suzanne battled skin cancer, before fighting breast cancer in her fifties after being diagnosed in 2000.
For more on Suzanne's life and legacy, see the video below.
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