Bob Saget’s Widow Kelly Rizzo Shares an Update About Her Journey Without Him

The widow of actor and stand-up comedian Bob Saget is opening up about her new journey without her favorite guy.

Comedian and actor Bob Saget got his start as a funny man when he was very young. In an interview with Dr. Jon LaPook, chief medical correspondent at CBS, just weeks before his death, Saget talked about when he first discovered he was funny.

Credit: Disney/ABC/Canva

Saget answered by saying that he remembered stepping into a comedic role when he was only four years old.

“I would dance in the living room and just start dancing, dancing stupid to make anybody laugh, just like silent film stars,” he recalled. “And I knew some jokes, but it wasn’t really jokes. It was just like, ‘I’ve got to perform; I’ve got to make people laugh.’”

Saget talked about the death of his sister, Gay, to complications of scleroderma, a disease that–though extremely rare–claimed Saget’s sister’s life nearly 30 years ago. He opened up about how losing his sister affected his life, becoming visibly emotional at times during the interview. “We were all in the room when she let out her last breath.”

Credit: ABC

Saget told Dr. LaPook, with whom he’d been close friends for years, that it was his funny side, as well as his 45-year-long career as an actor and a stand-up comedian, that helped him as he grieved the loss of his sister.

“It helped keep me mentally alive rather than letting [adversity] destroy me,” Saget said about his grief journey. “It was a defense mechanism, and it truly helped me survive.”

Bob Saget tells @DrLaPook that turning to comedy helped him get through tough times in his life, including losing his sister to scleroderma: “It was a defense mechanism and it truly helped me survive.”

Watch the full interview tomorrow on #CBSMornings. pic.twitter.com/0DNRgpfJlt

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 13, 2022

The interview aired on CBS Mornings just days after Bob Saget was found dead in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Hotel Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida, on January 9, 2022, beginning the difficult grief journey for his young wife, travel blogger Kelly Rizzo.

Saget was in Orlando as part of his I Don’t Do Negative comedy tour and had returned to his hotel room after his performance on the evening of Saturday, January 8. But on Sunday, hotel staff conducted a room check at the request of Saget’s family members, who had not been able to reach the 65-year-old actor and had grown increasingly concerned about him.

The late Bob Saget on the set of ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos”/Credit: Disney/ABC

RELATED: Medical Experts Question Bob Saget’s Autopsy Report as Heartbroken Fans Want More Answers 

When they arrived, they found Saget in bed with all of his personal belongings neatly packed up in the room, as he was scheduled to depart Orlando later that day to return home.

Saget was laid to rest days later in an intimate memorial ceremony attended by his family and close friends. Most of Saget’s castmates from the ABC television sitcom Full House were also in attendance, including  John Stamos, Candace Cameron Bure, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Jodie Sweetin, Dave Coulier, and Lori Loughlin. Loughlin’s husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was also at the service, as was John Stamos’s wife, Caitlin McHugh.

The cast of ABC’s “Full House”/Credit: Disney/ABC

Saget’s wife, Kelly Rizzo, has been interviewed numerous times in the nearly two years since her husband’s passing, each time being asked about her grief journey and how she’s coping with her loss.

RELATED: I Never Dreamed A Disney Film Could Help Me Process the Grief of Loss. Until Now.

Rizzo and Saget met in 2015 after the funny man messaged Rizzo via Instagram. They were engaged in Rizzo met Bob Saget after he messaged her via Instagram. The pair got engaged in 2017 and were married the following year. Though Rizzo has faced heartache since Saget’s death, she remains grateful for what the pair shared.

Credit: Good Morning America

This week, Rizzo spoke with ExtraTV‘s Billy Bush about the grieving process and about her journey thus far, saying she’s thankful for the time she and Saget had together. She also said she’s taking small steps to regain her joy in life.

“I’m still just coming from a place of gratitude–just being so grateful for the time I had with Bob,” Rizzo said. “When he left a mark on this world like he did and left an incredible legacy, that’s really all you can hope for out of life, and he accomplished that.”

When asked by Bush about whether she experiences “survivor’s guilt,” Rizzo said she has struggled with it along her journey.

“You feel guilty if you have happy moments or if you’re not feeling sad all the time,” Rizzo explained. “You feel guilty about that, but then I learned that’s very normal. Now that enough time has passed, even his [daughters] are always like, ‘That’s silly. Heavenly Bob wants you to be happy; earthly Bob would’ve been like, ‘Not too happy.’”

Credit: Good Morning America

When asked if she’d be able to accept a date now if someone were to ask her out, Rizzo said, “I’m open to it, yes.”

Here’s hoping Rizzo and the rest of Bob Saget’s family continue making progress along their grief journey in the wake of his passing.