Rhea Perlman is still very close to Danny DeVito, despite separating in 2012.
The “Cheers” star opened up about her relationship with her estranged husband and never getting divorced after going their separate ways.
“Danny and I, we are still married,” Perlman, 75, told Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the May 31 episode of Lemonada Media’s “Wiser Than Me” podcast. “And we are still very good friends and we see each other a lot. And our family is still the most important thing to both of us.”
Perlman and DeVito got married in 1982 and share three children together; daughters Lucy and Grace and son Jacob. After 30 years of marriage, the couple announced their separation in October 2012.
While chatting with Louis-Dreyfus, she said that both her and DeVito were both very ambitious people, “He loves to work...I like to work,” she said. “But I don’t think I would have ever given up my relationship for it.”
Adding, “And I didn’t.”
The “Barbie” actor, however, did express that their breakup was tough on her.
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“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, it was very difficult at first. And there were a lot of reasons that we separated,” she said, without wanting to divulge more of their past history. “It took time for us to come to this, somehow, pretty decent understanding and relationship with each other.”
Their separation, she said, was a big shift for her at the time, but she is now at peace with where their relationship stands. However, there are some things that she wishes were different.
“I live alone with my little dog, who is my partner in life now,” she said. “I don’t like living alone. I like being alone. I like having time to myself.”
“When I was living with Danny and the kids were all in college or wherever…if he went away to do something, (I thought), ‘Oh good, I have two weeks where I can do whatever I want,’” she said. “But, when it’s every day, it’s not my favorite.”
Louis-Dreyfus then proceeded to ask her if she would like to have a partner or set her up with one.
“No, don’t set me up,” the “Matilda” actor said, before adding, “Unless it’s someone really wonderful, rich and famous, gorgeous, and a lot younger than me.”
And while she said she sometimes feels “lonely,” she has a “lot of company” over, especially her family and first grandchild. Earlier in the episode, she reflected on recently becoming a grandmother for the first time “seven weeks ago.”
“The best part (about being 75) is that my children have grown and one of them had a grandchild,” she said. “Everybody said it will change your life when you have a grandchild and it does. There’s a certain love.”
“I felt that when my own children were born, it was a kind of love I’d never felt before for anything. And I felt love for my husband, for other people in my family, for a boyfriend here or there, or whatever,” she continued. “But this is, it was a profound kind of feeling.”
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