Actor Jack Wagner sent his hopeful words of encouragement to his fellow Hallmark Channel star Andie MacDowell after the actress announced she has been diagnosed with a rare muscle disorder.
Wagner, 65, who stars on Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart, gushed exclusively to Us Weekly about MacDowell, 66, who stars on Hallmark’s The Way Home, in the wake of MacDowell revealing her piriformis syndrome diagnosis.
“I just wish her the best. We manage these things as we get older,” Wagner said. “She’s a fighter, man. She’s an old pro.”
Wagner added, “I hope that she continues to battle this and grow stronger.”
The Melrose Place alum said he did “a mini press tour” last year with MacDowell, who has played Del Landry for three seasons on Hallmark’s The Way Home.
“We chatted quite a bit,” Wagner recalled. “I look at her as a movie star that’s doing television now. She’s very down to Earth. She’s lovely, super talented. She was very inspired and enthusiastic about being on the Hallmark Channel.”
MacDowell opened up about her diagnosis on the Thursday, January 23, episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, saying she was concerned she might have needed a hip replacement after experiencing “shooting [pain] down my leg.”
The actress detailed her life with piriformis syndrome, which affects the piriformis muscle and can also compress the sciatic nerve, leading to pain in the buttocks and leg.
“I ended up with bad knees and a bad hip and … I thought I was literally falling apart, like I was gonna have to get new pieces,” MacDowell told host Drew Barrymore. “But the good news is my pieces are fine. My knees are good except for aging. They’ve aged. I’m working out really hard now doing PT. I’m not falling apart.”
MacDowell added, “Thank God my hips are fine. I have to work my tiny little bottom and my hips. I have to work the bottom and work my hip. I just do it every day. And it doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s a miracle. It really is.”
As for Wagner, the actor and avid golfer will make his annual voyage to Orlando later this month to compete in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions alongside some of the best LPGA golfers in the world, including Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda and Celine Boutier. Wagner will be joined by other celebrities like Don Cheadle, Brian Baumgartner, Ben Higgins and Blake Griffin.
“I’ve become good friends with a lot of the LPGA golfers, athletes and celebrities,” Wagner said. “We’ve known each other for years through golf. It’s very cool to play with the LPGA golfers and see how solid they are and how normal they are. They’re just going out there and grinding like any golf pro. They’re really lovely people.”
The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions takes place at Orlando’s Lake Nona Golf & Country Club from January 30 to February 2.