“I don’t know where this relationship is going,” he says of his tryst with the “extremely accomplished” actress. Hamel, 88, was photographed arm in arm with Cassidy, 79 – whom he tells us he’s known for decades – in Malibu, California, earlier this week. They were wearing matching Malibu Beach Inn baseball caps as they grabbed lunch at Broad Street Oyster Company. “I have known Joanna Cassidy for over 45 years,” the Canadian film producer explains when we reached out for comment. “Joanna was a guest star on [daytime talk show] The Alan Hamel Show in Canada in the ’70s. She was a great guest and it was a dynamic show, and we liked each other, not romantically, but mainly with respect. Both of us were married at the time.” He says the duo crossed paths again when Cassidy and Somers starred together in the 1985 miniseries Hollywood Wives. “I ran into her in the mid-’80s many times during the production of Jackie Collins’ Hollywood Wives,” he recalls. “It was very cordial.” As for how the pair reconnected, Hamel explains that his son, Stephen, played matchmaker. “My son met Joanna at a screening and after a long conversation suggested to Joanna that she and me would get along and should meet. Stephen did not know we knew each other.” Hamel knows he has the blessing of Somers – who died of cancer in October 2023, one day before her 77th birthday – since in her final days she urged him to move on from her. “Don’t mope around,” he recalls her telling him. “Live your life. We will see one another after you cross over.” While Hamel isn’t sure where his romance with Cassidy will go, he has nothing but praise for the former model. “Joanna is extremely accomplished,” he gushes. “She is easily the hardest-working and most active actress in Hollywood for well over 50 years. She’s a great mother to her adult children, turns up for many fundraisers for first responders and is staff for her four cats. She is no Hollywood BS, and we laugh a lot.” The former TV host says of his current relationship, “I’m fortunate to have Joanna in my life. Most men would love to have a Joanna in their life. I do not know where this relationship is going, but what I do know is that being in the cocktail hour of my life, I am blessed with a magnificent family – thanks to incredible Suzanne – a privileged life, and our business that we created 50 years ago.” Hamel unveiled his wife’s headstone at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California, in October 2024 to mark the first anniversary of her passing. Cassidy – who also starred in movies from Blade Runner to Who Killed Roger Rabbit – was previously married to Dr. Kennard  Kobrin. They divorced in 1974, but never remarried. This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission