Is Suzanne Somers Married?
Suzanne Somers rose to popularity by playing Chrissy Snow on the hit 1970s sitcom Three’s Company. While the actress never really regained her traction as a television star after her work with the series ended, she did go on to make a big splash in the fitness world. Somers still makes headlines as one of the oldest Dancing with the Stars participants.
Fans might be wondering what Somers has been up to in the decades since her television fame, and they’ll find out that she has a thriving love life with her long-time husband. Read on to learn more about it.
Suzanne Somers mostly left acting behind
Three’s Company was an incredibly popular sitcom that began in 1977 and continued in syndication long after it completed its run in 1984. Somers; however, was no longer on the show when it finished.
Her portrayal of Chrissy Snow, one of the three roommates alluded to in the title, earned her accolades from critics and fans alike. She won a People’s Choice Award in 1978 and a Golden Globe nomination in 1979.
In 1980, Somers decided that her success was a sign that she deserved to be paid on par with her male co-star: John Ritter. When she approached network executives about raising her salary from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 an episode, they did not respond favorably. The network offered Somers a mere $5,000 raise, and as their negotiations stalled out, Somers’ character was getting less and less screen time.
Eventually, her contract was ended, and Chrissy Snow was replaced by her cousin Cindy Snow, played by Jenilee Harrison. Following the dramatic exit from one of the top sitcoms, Somers mostly left acting behind.
Suzanne Somers put her energy into a Las Vegas show and personal improvement
While Somers would return to the screen occasionally as a guest star and took on a role in the show Step by Step, she never regained major recognition for her acting career again. Instead, she spent a lot of time and energy on her Las Vegas show.
Somers also took on perhaps her most recognizable role of all time: spokeswoman for the Thighmaster. The popular 1990s piece of exercise equipment has become a ubiquitous part of nostalgia that’s constantly turning up in people’s basements or tossed among garage sale wares.
Somers also wrote some self-help books and parlayed her prior fame into a long-time career that included a Lifetime Network talk show that focused on health and fitness. Her recent Dancing with the Stars appearances are right in line with her public image focused on health and exercise.
Suzanne Somers’ husband has been her partner for four decades
Somers met Alan Hamel in the late 1960s on the set of a game show. Somers was a model for the show, and Hamel was a host. The two began dating, but Somers was freshly divorced and Hamel was married. The pair would date for nearly ten years before eventually getting married in 1977.
Hamel serves as Somers’ manager, so the pair have a very entwined professional and personal life. What’s the secret to staying happily married for forty years despite the pressures of work getting mixed into the relationship? Somers says that it’s all about attention. She and Hamel have never spent a night apart in 37 years, and they make time for regular date nights that keep the magic alive.
While the pair admit to some arguments early in their marriage when they were figuring out how to blend their families —Hamel had two children from his previous marriage and Somers had one from hers as well — they now have fallen into a rhythm where arguments are nearly non-existent. While Somers’ career has had many ups and downs, Hamel has been by her side throughout it all.
