Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel's Relationship Timeline

Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel first met in 1969 on the set of 'The Anniversary Game'

Contributor, PEOPLE

Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel have spent more than five decades together, and the couple still can't keep their hands off each other.

"I've never enjoyed anybody in my whole life the way I enjoy Al," Somers told PEOPLE in 2020. "There is juice and zest in this chapter!"

After meeting on the set of The Anniversary Game, the duo have remained inseparable. Throughout their marriage, Somers and Hamel have helped each other grow in their personal and professional lives.

From creating one of the most iconic commercials in fitness history to writing numerous best sellers on life, love and business, here's everything to know about Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel's relationship.

Somers met Hamel on the set of The Anniversary Game, a game show that aired for one year. At the time, Somers worked as a prize model and Hamel was the host. While her time on the show was short-lived, a flame between Somers and Hamel ignited that has never burned out.

Hamel "turned on women and turned on men. Everybody liked him, everybody liked to be around him. I just stood in awe," Somers told PEOPLE of first meeting him.

After that meeting, Somers and Hamel were never without the other. Even so, the couple dated for 10 years before tying the knot in 1977. Together, they worked to blend their families (Somers' son and Hamel's two children) and helped build one another's careers.

"If you want to get really lofty, did we know each other in another life? It was that instant," Somers told PEOPLE of her connection with Hamel.

She added: "I think the 10-year difference, he has a perspective that I've been catching up with. He's been a great teacher, as I believe I've been a great teacher for him."

Following the wedding, Somers and Hamel went in search of a place to get away from it all and escape the paparazzi, in Venice, California. The couple originally purchased the home for $420,000 in 1977, per Homes & Gardens.

"As we rode up the romantic funicular, I said to Alan, 'Let's buy this,' and he said to me, 'Could you please adopt a poker face so we don't have to pay full price?'" Somers told PEOPLE. "I was not able to contain my excitement and we paid more than full price."

Hamel isn't just Somers' partner in life, he's her partner in business too. In a 2006 interview with Inc., Hamel said Somers' previous manager didn't have her best interests at heart.

"When Suzanne was doing Three's Company, I was doing a television series in Canada," Hamel said. "I noticed her manager was making a lot of short-term deals for her, not career-oriented, long-term deals. I wanted to stop doing the TV show in Canada, so we decided to terminate the manager and I'd take over. We've been doing it that way ever since."

After being fired from Three's Company, Somers packed her bags and went to Las Vegas to work as a showgirl — she opened at the MGM Grand in 1980. After three years (and countless nights of performing), Somers said she'd had enough and decided it was time to find a new way to make money. Enter: the ThighMaster."I'd just bought a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes for $560. Like any wife, I'm thinking 'How am I going to tell my husband I spent almost $600 on a pair of shoes?' I was in my dressing room in my underwear, and I thought, this is the perfect time to show him. So I walked out in a bra and panties and my new high heels, and I watched my husband's eyes go up from the shoes to my legs," Somers told Inc..

She continued: "And he said, 'Great legs!' And I thought — that's the commercial. We'll pan up, showing my legs, using my husband's voice to narrate 'Great legs!' We ended up selling over 10 million ThighMasters."

On April 14, 1995, Hamel's daughter Leslie Hamel gave birth to his granddaughter Daisy Hamel-Buffa. Later that year, Somers' son, Bruce Somers Jr., welcomed Camelia Marie Somers into the world.

In 2017, Somers told PEOPLE that one of the best parts of having grandchildren is that "you get to fall in love all over again." She added, "They just love you. There's no 'Yours, mine, ours or anything."

On April 4, 2000, Somers was scheduled to have a routine mammogram. During the appointment, the doctor recommended she try his new ultrasound machine, which could detect up to 20 percent of lumps that traditional mammograms are likely to miss.

Following the ultrasound, the doctor told Somers she'd need to have a biopsy. An hour later, Somers' doctor broke the bad news: She had a malignant tumor in her right breast.

"It was like a black cloud descended," Hamel told PEOPLE. "That day was the saddest day of my life."

Thankfully, Somers' doctor was able to remove the tumor. Even so, recovery was difficult. Lying in bed, Somers said she was "in incredible pain" and leaned on Hamel for support.

"For five days he stayed in bed with me," Somers told PEOPLE. "Business didn't exist. He brought me soup and turned off the phones."

In 2007, a wind-driven fire destroyed the couple's Malibu, California, home.

"There's not a death in the family," Somers told reporters. "We'll rebuild and I really think we'll learn something great from this. What else can you do with tragedy but look for the opportunity to grow? It was a beautiful house. It was a beautiful place to live."

Ten years later, Somers gave PEOPLE a tour of her and Hamel's new Malibu home.

"It took a long time since our house burned down to get back on the water," Somers said before adding: "I can't get over it. It's such a gift. There's just a lot of nature and light and beauty and I love my life."

In an exclusive email interview with PEOPLE, Somers revealed her secrets to a long-lasting marriage. While speaking about her book Two's Company: A Fifty-Year Romance with Lessons Learned in Love, Life & Business, she admitted that she and Hamel haven't spent a night apart since their nuptials.

"No agreement was ever made, just an insatiable desire to be together," Somers told PEOPLE. "I can't imagine a night without him. It sounds corny, but we are one."

In 2017, Somers opened up to PEOPLE about her first date with Hamel decades ago.

"I went on my first date with him [and] slept with him on the first date [because] I thought, 'I may never get another chance,'" Somers told PEOPLE. "It was so incredible. I've been with him ever since."

On her 73rd birthday, Somers posed topless in a field in Palm Springs, California. The photo, which she posted on Instagram, was taken by Hamel.

"We were walking on the hillside road [on her property] and I think it was like June. It was hot and dry," Somers told PEOPLE. "I said, 'Oh my god, the foliage here is the same color as my hair.' Because, by that time, all the weeds and bushes had turned yellow."

She continued: "So I got down and said, 'Take a picture of me. The weeds will look like my hair. I took my top down because I was with my husband, and he took that great picture."

In February 2020, Somers posted a video on Instagram in which she was soaking in an outdoor bathtub while Hamel danced in circles around her wearing nothing but a red jacket and underwear. The clip was set to the tune of "Let Me Entertain You" from the 1959 musical Gypsy.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Somers captioned the post. "This is what you call an 83 year old STRIP TEASE! How lucky am I to have Alan as my Valentine!? Happy Valentine's Day to all of you from my #weirda–family! LOVE IS ALL THERE IS! ❤️."

In October 2020, Somers had a fractured hip and was using a crutch when Hamel tried to help her down the stairs. But he tripped himself in the process and Somers suffered a fall.

"I could tell I did something bad," Somers told PEOPLE. "We went and had X-rays and they said, 'Immediate spinal surgery.'"

After surgery, Somers was ordered to wear a neck collar to keep her spine immobile. But, that didn't keep the couple from being intimate.

"You would think I couldn't have sex, but my husband has figured that one out," Somers said.

On their 44th wedding anniversary, Somers posted a video on Instagram with the caption: "My darling, @therealalanhamel - how I love being your wife. Married today 44 years and together 53 years!"

The video, which was created by her son, featured photos of Somers and Hamel throughout the years.

"I don't want to spend a day without you. What a life! Happy Anniversary! Thank you to @brucesomersjr and @carolinesomers for this beautiful video ❤️," wrote Somers.

If there's one thing Somers and Hamel have in common, it's passion. In 2021, Somers got candid about her and Hamel's sex life on the podcast Let's Talk with Heather Dubrow. In the episode, Somers revealed that she and her husband get busy at least three times per day.

"At this stage of life, most people think that's over the hill," Somers said. "What time is it, noon? I had sex with him three times so far today."

She added: "God, our relationship has always been amazing, but now that our kids are raised and it's just me and Al, and we paid for the tuition, we paid for the weddings and helped them get their start — now it's just us. Man, are we having fun."

In January 2021, Somers and Hamel listed their home for $8.5 million, in hopes of escaping the paparazzi.

Their real estate agent Josh Flagg, star of Bravo's Million Dollar Listing: Los Angeles, first announced the listing news via Instagram on Jan. 22, 2021. By May, the compound, which they bought in 1977, was in escrow.

"Not only is it one of the most special properties, we are most happy to represent it considering we adore Suzanne and Alan more than anything," Flagg told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. "Their relationship is magical as is the home."

In 2021, Somers told PEOPLE that she and Hamel may be making a return to the small screen with their own reality TV series.

"At the moment, this is just an idea that is in development," Somers said. "We have been doing our Facebook Live and IGTV shows Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the past few years, which has evolved into the possibility of a reality show."

Although there had been previous offers to return to TV, this particular opportunity intrigued them. "The idea of doing an unscripted show and flying by the seat of my pants is an attractive concept," she added. "And exactly what we have been doing for the past few years online, so we will see."

In a July 2022 exclusive with Entertainment Tonight, Somers recalls how much fun she and Hamel used to have at New York's legendary Studio 54 night club. She told ET that they would dance until "the wee hours of the morning," before taking a limo back to a "fabulous" hotel.

"We had the best time ever. We loved it. And then I'd come back to Los Angeles and I'd go in the studio and do Three's Company, and then at night I'd do magazine covers, and then [on] the weekend we'd fly to New York. What a life, huh?" Somers said.

She continued: "When you look up [photos from] Studio 54 with Alan and I ... what you'll mainly see on my face is pure joy and excitement. That's what Studio 54 was. Pure joy and excitement and a thrill, a real thrill."

Never one to miss an opportunity to express her love for Hamel, Somers posted a then-and-now photo of the two.

“Still smiling 55 years later ☺️ #TBT 🫶,” she captioned the side-by-side picture on Instagram.

In a July 2023 interview with Page Six, Hamel revealed that Somers had been privately dealing with the return of cancer.

“Suzanne has lived with cancer all her life,” he said. “She has now dealt with her cancer once again … On June 6, she got an all-clear, but cancer is tricky and we will now closely monitor everything going forward.”

Known for being active on social media on which they post about their lifestyle products, Hamel also revealed that he and Somers were staying offline for a bit. “We decided to put work on the back burner for now and focus on her health,” he added.

Shortly after, Somers shared her own health update on Instagram.

“As you know, I had breast cancer two decades ago, and every now and then it pops up again, and I continue to bat it down,” she captioned a photo of her and Hamel. “This is not new territory for me. I know how to put on my battle gear and I’m a fighter.”

Somers continued: “Alan has been by my side every step of the way. I can’t even explain how much he has done for me. If it’s even possible, we are even closer than ever … Thank you for the continued love and support. It’s only about who you love and who loves you - and I love you! ✨💛✨.”