Ryan O’Neal and his daughter Tatum O’Neal claim their new reality series has helped them work through some of their issues, but you wouldn’t know it by the legendary actor’s appearance on “Piers Morgan Tonight.”
During the interview on Monday’s show, Ryan repeatedly made clear that he still harbors a lot of resentment over the way his relationship with Tatum deteriorated as they grew older.
But the 70-year-old movie star’s most shocking claim was his belief that Tatum’s wild behavior may have contributed to the death of his longtime love, Farrah Fawcett.
Fawcett died of cancer in 2009 at age 62, 30 years after she and Ryan began their on-and-off relationship.
“What bothers me the most is that there was turmoil during my love affair with Farrah,” Ryan said. “A lot of it caused by my family, by my kids. All of them. Particularly Tatum.”
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“I just think that if she had never met us, would she still be alive today?” he wondered aloud. “Because nobody knows what causes cancer, do they really?”
Ryan pointed out that Fawcett took great care of herself, exercising “every day” and abstaining from cigarettes and alcohol.
“And then we came along,” he said. “And gradually she got weaker. I don’t know.”
When Morgan expressed skepticism over Ryan’s theory, the actor insisted it’s “highly possible.”
“Maybe it isn’t true,” he conceded. “But it’s possible.”
The irony, perhaps, is that Tatum , now 47, is the one who led to Ryan and Fawcett’s first meeting, when the actress was still married to Lee Majors.
But Tatum became jealous of Ryan’s subsequent relationship with the “Charlie’s Angel” star, he claimed.
“She was not supportive. She was cruel. She wanted it to go down,” he alleged. “She didn’t see it as a love affair. She did not see it like I saw it. She didn’t help me. I needed help.”
Tatum and Ryan became largely estranged for more than 20 years, only reconciling after Fawcett’s death.
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They have chronicled their attempts at working through their sordid history on the OWN documentary series, “Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals,” which premiered – coincidentally or not – on Father’s Day.
Ryan told Morgan that he hopes the show will help other families who have experienced similar problems.
“That would be a huge benefit and I would take great pride in that. I would go on with it,” he said. “And I’d keep going with Tatum until we’ve locked it down. Because I think that’s what you have to do with people you love.”
When Morgan asked Ryan if he truly believes he can do that, the actor said he has to.
“I’m out of options,” he replied. “This is it.”
