Suzanne Somers has had a lot of success in her long career.
The 76-year-old broke through in 1970’s “Three’s Company,” had a lucrative residency in Las Vegas in the 1980’s, built an empire with “ThighMaster” in the 1990’s, and revitalized her acting career with “Step by Step.” ” new.
But there was one opportunity Suzanne – who has been married to husband Alan Hamel for 55 years – was offered and missed: to co-host The View with Barbara Walters.
“I was originally asked to be on the original version of View with Barbara Walters and whoever, and I declined,” the 76-year-old actress shared during Wednesday’s episode of the podcast, Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef.
“And everyone was like, ‘Why would you turn that down? It’s a national show,” Somers recalled.
Mogul: Suzanne Somers has had a lot of success in her long career. The 76-year-old had her breakthrough in the 1970s in “Three’s Company”, but she turned down a chance
Bombshell: She had a lucrative residency in Las Vegas in the 1980s, built an empire with ‘ThighMaster’ in the 1990s, and reinvigorated her acting career with ‘Step by Step.’
She continued, “I said, ‘First of all, I have to live in New York.’ I don’t really want to live in New York. “I like the weather down here and I like the vibe down here,” she explained.
“But secondly, it’s not good for me to compete for time. And that’s where you have to pause and toggle on and off. It’s just not my personality.’
And she walked away and “never looked back.”
Suzanne was fired from Three’s Company after four years on the series when she demanded an increase in her salary from $30,000 per episode to the $150,000 per episode that her co-star John Ritter was earning.
“Back then, men made 10 to 15 times more than I did,” she told Fox News Digital.
“And I was on the number one show.” It just felt wrong because I was clearly underpaid. And it’s not like I stopped the show. My contract had expired. We had a meeting with the lawyers. But by then they had already made up their minds.
“I waited at home — and remember, this was a cell-free era, so it felt like forever,” Somers recalls. “It was a gray day. And the front door opened in such a way that you knew bad news was coming. It was really slow. And I heard my husband walking very slowly up the stairs. I met him on the landing.
Early years: Susan Lucci, center in red, with, from left, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck in 2012
“He looked at me, shook his head and said, ‘You’re out. You were gone within the first five minutes of walking into the meeting.” …Now I was unemployed and labeled a ‘trouble’ just because I wanted to be paid fairly for my work.”
The press turned against her and she wondered what to do when she realized she needed to focus on what she had, not what she didn’t have. And what she had was the fact that almost everyone on the planet knew who she was.
After a lucrative stay in Las Vegas with a busy schedule, the Three’s Company graduate wanted to try something new.
She launched the ThighMaster in 1990 and it was an instant phenomenon. She said she stopped counting how many she sold after 10 million.
The View: But there was one opportunity she got and missed: co-hosting The View with Barbara Walters. “I was originally asked to be on the original version of View with Barbara Walters and whoever, and I declined,” the 76-year-old actress shared during Wednesday’s episode of the podcast, Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef
Longtime love: Suzanne has been married to her husband Alan Hamel for 55 years
No regrets: “And everyone was like, ‘Why would you turn that down? It’s a national show,'” Somers recalled
By 1992, it was the top-selling brand on the Home Shopping Network. But she has a complaint.
“My biggest complaint today is that I work too much.” I’m always busy. The pandemic worked for me because we started doing Facebook Live shows and Instagram shows three times a week.
“We start the show with some tequila on the rocks and it’s like we’re having a drink together while my husband rolls the camera.”
“There’s just a lot more freedom on the internet than there is on mainstream TV. I just love where I’ve been and where I’m going.”