Patrick Swayze’s Widow Lisa Niemi Got ‘Flak’ for Remarrying After His Death: ‘Stand in My Shoes’

Patrick Swayze’s widow, Lisa Niemi, is opening up about finding love again after loss.

Niemi, 67, was married to the Dirty Dancing actor for more than three decades before he died of pancreatic cancer in 2009. While appearing on the Monday, April 8, episode of “Amy and T.J.,” Niemi reflected on the backlash she received when she married her second husband, Albert DePrisco, following Swayze’s death.

"Yes, I got a lot of flak — it's like, 'How dare you.' There are some pretty rabid Patrick fans out there who think I'm evil, just don't like me because I was married to him," she said. "So there was a lot of flak that came on that, a lot of criticism, and you just learn to deal with it and move on. But it's like, 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.'”

She continued, “How could you say that? Ridiculous."

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Niemi tied the knot with DePrisco, a jeweler, in 2014. The pair met three years after Patrick’s death, and Lisa admitted that, had it happened any sooner, she wouldn’t have been ready.

"Patrick is still with me. I still have a relationship with him,” she explained. “He's physically not here, [but] every day he's with me and I feel him there. ... I really fell in love with Albert, and … it was interesting to see how it didn't affect my love for Patrick one bit.”

Niemi added that losing Swayze doesn’t mean that she stopped loving, explaining, “I think Albert and I were fortunate to find someone to give that love to."

While more than a decade has passed since his death, Niemi admitted that “it’s not always easy” to speak about her late husband. “It brings up memories that are, you know, not all that pleasant,” she explained. “But I tell you what, I know what these people feel like to fight for somebody they love. And to do it with a disease that has so little resources. It’s like, ‘Yeah, we all got to go at some point but give us a fighting chance.’”

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Swayze’s rep confirmed in a September 2009 statement that the actor “passed away peacefully” with his family by his side after “facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months.”

Two years before his death, the Ghost star credited Niemi as the inspiration behind his many storied film characters.

“Lisa and I have built just about every character I’ve done,” he told People in 2007. “You have to understand, we have an ease. … We’ve been partners for a long time.”