Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider is in love again. A year after his wife passed away from cancer, Schneider revealed that he was in a relationship with a new woman.
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Schneider said that he went through a "really rough year" that "about got me off of everything." He said that he turned to religion and believed that God sent her to him.
"God sent a widower to a widow and a widow to a widower who [gets] it, who understands. Because I tell you what, I was ready to give it up, all of it — everything," he explained. "Then just when I thought the very notion of dating or holding another hand was repulsive, I met this one, that crazy Dame over there."
Schneider is dating Dee Dee Sorvino, who was married to actor Paul Sorvino until his death in 2022. Schneider called the relationship a miracle and that he "can honestly say I didn't want it" to begin with. "I was done," he continued. "And if that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have been here, there's not a chance in the world."
John Schneider Talks Death Of Wife
Schneider's wife Alicia Allain developed breast cancer in 2019. Though it went into remission, it returned in 2021. She ended up passing away in 2023 at their home. Following her passing, Schneider said he fell into a spiral of grief. He said he would look around and think about her. The pain of not having her there was a gulf, a void that was too difficult for him to past. He realized deeply how much he loved her in the moments that she was gone.
"I have to get to the point where I look around and see where she is, not where she's not," he said. "And I'm trying to do that, but that's hard. Somehow I love her more every minute, but with that, somehow I miss her more every minute."
He continued, "And that's the personality of grief, is living like this, being pulled in two completely opposite directions at the same time ... you want something with all your heart and soul, and you don't want it with all your heart and soul, at the same time. I want this pain to go away. But I don't want it diminish her in any way. I want to laugh, and when I do, I feel bad. I want to smile and mean it, but I don't."