Ted Danson<\/strong> opened up about having a previously undisclosed health scare, calling the experience the \u201cbest thing that could have happened\u201d to him.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last thing that hit me that was kind of liberating is that I had a bit of a health scare,\u201d the Cheers<\/em> alum, 78, revealed on the Wednesday, May 6, episode of his \u201cWhere Everybody Knows Your Name\u201d podcast. \u201cI\u2019m totally fine, but it was like, \u2018Oh! Well, that\u2019s real!\u2019 It was humbling \u2014 mortality, it\u2019s the real deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Danson shared his recent health ordeal during a discussion with Hot in Cleveland<\/em> actress Valerie Bertinelli<\/strong>, who has gone through her own medical challenges in recent years. (Danson never specified the exact nature of his medical issue.)<\/p>\n \u201c[Mortality] is not just a rumor,\u201d Danson quipped. \u201cTed Danson doesn\u2019t get a free pass. \u2018Love his work but\u2019 \u2026 I hadn\u2019t f***ed up in some way. So, I couldn\u2019t go, \u2018Oh, Ted!\u2019 It was very humbling and calming and I\u2019m fine but it was, I think, it was the best thing that could have happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n The two-time Emmy Award winner confirmed that he is \u201cdoing some things differently\u201d since his health scare.<\/p>\n \u201cI am meditating twice a day now with [wife Mary Steenburgen<\/strong>]. I\u2019ve always talked about it and lied about it, but now I really am,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n Later in the interview, Danson mentioned that \u201cthe biggest gift of all\u201d from his recent experience is that he\u2019s learned to be \u201cmore curious about other people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can listen and you can be supportive, caring. You can witness them and I do believe that\u2019s the rest of my life, is to be curious and listen,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the best thing I can offer.\u201d<\/p>\n Danson said he has also felt much more present with his wife, Steenburgen, 73, whom he wed in 1995. (The Good Place<\/em> star shares two daughters, Kate and Katrina Danson, with his second wife, Cassandra Coates<\/strong>, whom he was with from 1977 to 1993. Steenburgen welcomed two children, Lilly and Charlie McDowell, during her previous marriage to Malcolm McDowell<\/strong> from 1980 to 1990.)<\/p>\n You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n Late last year, Danson revealed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert<\/em> that he \u201chates love scenes\u201d with any other actress besides Steenburgen.<\/p>\n \u201cThey never paid me to do sex,\u201d he teased. \u201cI kissed. But no, I was the guy who made jokes about sex, but not actually [film a sex scene].\u201d<\/p>\n The couple recently got the chance to play lovers on the Netflix comedy series A Man on the Inside<\/em>, which was renewed for a third season in February. Danson stars as a retired professor who becomes an assistant investigator at a private detective agency, with Steenburgen joining in season two as her real-life husband\u2019s onscreen love interest.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/themes\/us-weekly\/assets\/img\/newsletter-bg-narrow.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nThank You!<\/h3>\n
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\n Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen in January 2026.<\/span> Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n