Blast from the past! Kaley Cuoco reunited with ex-boyfriend Kevin Zegers while honoring “surrogate Dad” John Ritter Thursday at the John Ritter Foundation From the Heart LA Gala. The Flight Attendant star, 36, looked stunning in a white lace, off-the-shoulder Zuhair Murad gown as she smiled for photos with the Gossip Girl alum, 37, with whom she had a brief romance back in 2003 after their time filming The Hollow together.
Cuoco and Zegers both paid tribute to Ritter, who died suddenly in 2003 due to an aortic dissection, saying he would be “for sure happy” to see them reunite. Cuoco played Ritter’s daughter on the popular sitcom 8 Simple Rules, while Zegers and Ritter bonded filming the 1999 TV movie It Came from the Sky. (Also in attendance at the gala was Cuoco’s 8 Simple Rules co-star Amy Davidson).
Videos by PopCulture.com
“It’s been 20 years since we first met. John Ritter was our surrogate Dad,” Zegers captioned a photo with Cuoco. “So happy to spend the night together remembering our friend and raising some money for the @johnritterfoundation.” Cuoco was quick to comment, “20 years! John is for sure happy to see us together again!” In her own post for the evening, The Big Bang Theory alum called herself a “happy girl,” showing off her summery look for “a special evening wearing a special dress.” At the end of the post, Cuoco wrote alongside a heart, “love you John.”
Ritter died just six days before his 55th birthday after falling ill on the set of 8 Simple Rules on Sept. 11, 2003. In the documentary Superstar: John Ritter, Cuoco recalled simply hearing screaming on set at the time. She then remembered going to the set the day after he had passed. “Everyone was just crying, bawling and then people started telling stories,” the Golden Globe winner shared. “I’ll never forget, there was the mailman at Warner Bros. and he was like, ‘I’d like to speak.’ He goes, ‘I used to deliver the mail here. John would always say hi to me’ and I was like, ‘Of course he did.’” Later in the documentary, a tearful Cuoco added, “I really love him so much, to this day.”
