Patrick Swayze's Wife Says She 'Got a Lot of Flack' After Marrying Again Following His Death: 'You Just Learn to Deal'

Patrick Swayze's widow is reflecting on finding love again after his 2009 death from pancreatic cancer at 57.

Lisa Niemi Swayze, who was married to the Dirty Dancing actor from 1975 until his death, opened up on the April 8 episode of the Amy and T.J. Podcast about meeting and marrying her husband Albert DePrisco, whom she tied the knot with in 2014 — and the criticism she received from Patrick's fans who felt she was moving on from their relationship.

"Yes, I got a lot of flack — 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," Lisa, 67, said on the podcast. "So there was a lot of flack 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.' "

"How could you say that?' she added. "Ridiculous." 

Lisa and Patrick first met when they were teenagers in Houston, Texas. Afterwards, they moved to New York City following their graduations from high school. She made a name for herself as an actress alongside Patrick's successful Hollywood career; they even costarred in the 2003 movie One Last Dance, which Lisa directed from a play she and Patrick cowrote titled Without a Word.

During the podcast, Lisa recounted that she and her current husband DePrisco met "about three years" after Patrick's death; DePrisco himself had gone through a divorce.

"If we had met before then, it wouldn't have happened, but after three years we were about ready," she said. "We were introduced by longtime friends that we had both known for 30 years who vouched for the other person."

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While praising her current marriage, Lisa discounted the notion that she has forgotten about the Point Break actor, whom she was married to for 34 years.

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

"Just because you lose a loved one doesn't mean you stop loving, and you don't have that love to give," Lisa added. "And I think Albert and I were fortunate to find someone to give that love to."