Kelly Rizzo is open to dating again after losing her husband Bob Saget – and his daughters have given her their blessing.
In January 2022, the "Full House" actor, comedian and host of "America’s Funniest Home Videos" died at age 65. Saget had daughters Aubrey, Lara and Jennifer with first wife Sherri Kramer before divorcing in 1997. He married Rizzo, a food blogger, in 2018.
The 44-year-old has launched a podcast, "Comfort Food with Kelly Rizzo," where she speaks to celebrities about grief over emotionally comforting dishes.
KELLY RIZZO SHARES HOW BOB SAGET HELPED HER GET ‘TO FINISH LINE’ FOR MILITARY SHOW CHALLENGE
"It’s meant everything," Rizzo told Fox News Digital about receiving support from her stepdaughters to open up her heart once more.
"Even though it’s something that you don’t think you need permission for, it meant everything to me to have their blessing and just knowing that they want me to be happy and that they love me. And the two of them saying that Bob would want me to be happy meant everything because they’re his kids. They knew him best."
"I’d love to think that Bob would want me to be happy too, but to hear it from them is just a totally different level," she shared. "And it meant the world just to hear, ‘Hey, we trust you. We love you. We know you’re going to do what’s right, and we want you to be happy.'"
"To continually have their support – I couldn’t ask for a greater gift," Rizzo added.
Rizzo spent her last Christmas with Saget in 2021. It was different, she noted. Usually, Rizzo spent the holidays with her family in Chicago as Saget preferred to bask in the California sunshine with his daughters. But that year, he headed to Chicago and spent it with Rizzo’s family and his daughter Lara.
"We were so fortunate that we got to have that last Christmas together," she said. "It was such a special time. My family was so happy to have him, and it was just this beautiful time that we all had. We all got to be together… And last Christmas, Lara came to Chicago to spend Christmas with my family. It was a wonderful time that first year. She wanted to do it again and honor him by coming back to Chicago. So this Christmas, Lara is spending Christmas with my family again."
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"Now, we’re kind of keeping that very last Christmas that we had together," Rizzo continued. "We’re keeping the tradition alive with Lara continuing to come to spend Christmas with my family. We’re very excited to have her, and we’re going to just eat all the foods that Bob loved and talk about him. We want to make sure he’s still a part of the festivities."
Rizzo shared that Saget’s favorite holiday was Thanksgiving. Even when they started dating, they spent every Thanksgiving together.
"He was so excited for turkey," she chuckled. "He believed he made the best turkey ever. He had a method to his madness, but he would just go into the fridge and get out the barbecue sauce, the Worcestershire sauce and all these random things and just start pouring it on top of the turkey. He really didn’t know what he was doing, but it always ended up great. He was convinced that he made the world’s best turkey. That was his comfort food. Every year we got together with his daughters, his nephew and just have this really great Thanksgiving. I’m so happy I have such wonderful memories from that."
Rizzo recently honored her late husband in a special way. The Eat Travel Rock founder was invited to Norman Lear’s monthly "cigar night," which Saget often attended. The award-winning TV writer and film producer died on Tuesday at age 101.
"Norman was not there – this was only two days before he passed away," Rizzo explained. "Norman obviously couldn’t be there as he was not doing well. But this had been something that we had been planning and trying to get on the books for a long time… It was such an honor to attend this cigar night because it was so special to Bob and it was so special to Norman… It brought them so much joy. And so, to be the only and first female that’s ever been allowed to attend and just share so many beautiful stories about Norman and Bob… I felt blessed to be a part of it."
Rizzo said it was within a few months after losing Saget that she realized there weren’t many open discussions about grief. The podcast was her attempt to "normalize those conversations" and help others "get through it" as she processed her feelings.
"I had never lost anybody before," she explained. "So I was new to this world... And having conversations about grief can still be a little taboo. Nobody really wants to talk about it because it’s not the most fun topic. But I thought, ‘How can I make this more comforting and palatable, no pun intended?’ So, I thought, I’ll discuss grief with my guest’s favorite comfort food."
"I also wanted to make sure that a lot of my guests would be comedians," she shared. "I wanted to bring in a different type of angle to the topic. I wanted to talk about grief in a more lighthearted way… Humor can be healing. It allows us to really talk about the topic, but also learn how to get through it."
Losing someone in the public eye hasn’t been easy, Rizzo revealed. But she’s grateful to have had the support of Saget’s fans, who have offered her "nothing but love."
"It ended up being a gift to do it publicly," she explained. "I received love and support from so many people, even from people I didn’t know. In the very beginning, let’s just say those first couple of weeks, it was very difficult. It was an extra layer of trauma to it because not only are you suffering the loss of your husband, but you’re doing it publicly. There’s paparazzi outside your house. But so many people… helped me find a voice. I wasn’t expecting to be able to talk about this. But now, I want to help other people."
Today, Rizzo feels "gratitude." And she doesn’t feel like she was robbed of more time with Saget.
"I just feel so much gratitude that I got to be in Bob’s life, and I had him in my life," she said. "I got to be the one who made him happy those last several years. How lucky am I to be the one who got to be by his side while he got to make the world a better place? That’s what I’ve chosen to focus on. Focusing on time lost, not having enough time together – that’s a waste of time."
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"None of us know how long we have," she continued. "None of us know how long we’re going to be on this Earth. Focusing on the good times we had together has been much more productive. It’s been much more peaceful… We can look at this dark, heavy conversation about grief and it doesn’t have to be so scary. We can bring more light into it. We can bring more love and laughter into it."
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