Lisa Niemi Swayze is opening up about the criticism she received when she re-married five years after her first husband, Patrick Swayze, passed away.
During her appearance on the Amy and T.J. Podcast, Lisa opened up about first meeting her second husband Albert DePrisco, whom she married in 2014. Her first husband Patrick, whom she was married to for 34 years, died from pancreatic cancer in 2009 at the age of 57.
“Yes, I got a lot of flack,” Lisa shared. “It’s like, ‘How dare you.’ There are some pretty rabid Patrick fans out there who think I’m evil, just don’t like me because I was married to him.”
Lisa then said that despite the harsh remarks, she just learned to deal with it all and move on. “I was so tempted so many times to say, ‘Hey girlfriend, stand in my shoes, tell me about it. Go ahead – tell me just because I lost my husband that I don’t love him anymore.’”
Lisa first met Patrick Swayze when they were teenagers in Houston, Texas. After graduating high school, they both moved to New York City and both went into acting. They co-starred in the 2003 film One Last Dance. The couple also co-wrote a play called Without a Word.
Lisa also shared that she met DePrisco three years after Patrick’s death. “If we had met before then, it wouldn’t have happened,” she said about their relationship. “But after three years we were about ready.”
The couple met through mutual friends.
Lisa Says Patrick Swayze Is Still With Her Even Though He’s Not Physically Around
More than a decade after Patrick Swayze passed away, Lisa stated she can still feel the Ghost star’s presence.
“Patrick is still with me,” Lisa said. “I still have a relationship with him; he’s physically not here, [but] every day he’s with me and I feel him there.”
Lisa then shared that it was really weird to fall in love with her second husband while feeling the way she feels for Patrick Swayze. “It was interesting to see how it didn’t affect my love for Patrick one bit.”
While addressing her critics, Lisa stated that even though Patrick is gone, that doesn’t mean she ever stopped loving others.
“Just because you lose a loved one doesn’t mean you stop loving,” she explained. “And you don’t have that love to give. And I think Albert and I were fortunate to find someone to give that love to.”