Inside Suzanne Somers’ Complicated Relationship With John Ritter

Suzanne Somers reflected on her treatment after being fired, recalling that she wasn’t permitted to speak to her fellow castmates and was escorted on and off set (via Biography). When she finished filming Season 5, that was the end of her interactions with John Ritter for over 20 years. Somers later revealed her final conversation with Ritter and shared fond memories of her former co-star. 

“He’s the greatest physical comic of our era, on par with Dick Van Dyke. John Ritter could flip over a couch and it was choreographed like a dance,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “He didn’t count it out, but he did it the same way each time. I learned so much watching him.” The duo had great chemistry on set, which is why she thinks he took her departure so hard. “I think he irrationally got mad at me because he lost his sparring partner,” she explained to the outlet. 

But all was not lost, despite there being radio silence between the actors for so long. Somers revealed in a 2021 interview with Entertainment Tonight that in 2003 she got a call from Ritter who said to her, “‘Hey babe . . . I forgive you,’” to which she replied, “Thanks.” The pair were planning on working together again, however, he sadly died before they could reunite. But it seems pretty safe to say they repaired their friendship before he did.