Patrick Swayze's wife Lisa Niemi says late husband gave his "blessing" in a dream to remarry

11 April 2024, 11:18 | Updated: 15 April 2024, 09:56

It was a tragedy when Patrick Swayze died in 2009.

But the real tragedy was that Lisa Niemi - his teenage sweetheart and wife of 34 years - was left a widow.

Since the married couple had no children, Lisa was left to deal with the burden of grief on her own.

Coming to terms with what happened over the past decade, Niemi has started to open up about the harrowing experience of losing her soulmate.

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Speaking to hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes on the iHeartRadio podcast, Amy and T.J., she said the last few months of his life were "like living in a complete nightmare".

Patrick Swayze died of pancreatic cancer at the age of just 57 in 2009, though Lisa insisted that the Dirty Dancing icon "kept positive about everything".

She maintains they "still have a relationship" every day, and that Patrick came to her in a dream to give Lisa his blessing to remarry.

According to Lisa, Patrick gave her a message to remarry before she tied the knot again with Albert DePrisco five years after his death.

"It was like he was resurrected," she said. "And I was in this courtyard - and he came out and when I see him in my dreams, he can never speak, but I can understand what he was saying."

"He came up to me and he put his arms around me, and I was like, 'I can't marry Albert because you're back. Thank God you’re back!'"

After marrying DePrisco in May 2014, Niemi took her dream as a "blessing" from Patrick, adding that she received "flak" and "criticism" from Swayze's fans for the decision to move on.

"It didn't affect my love for Patrick one bit," Niemi insisted, before adding that DePrisco said when proposing, "I know you love him and I know you love me, and I'm here to love you now."

"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,'" Niemi continued.

Lisa has spoken about her irreparable loss before, notably in a video interview from 2022 where she reflected on mourning Patrick and how she still misses him.

"I don't think there's anything I don't miss about him," Niemi told ET at the time. "It's also the little things."

"It's his laugh. It's the sound of his voice. I feel like he's with me every day. We had a great ride and there's so much to be grateful for."