Nearly two years after the death of her husband Nick Cordero, Amanda Kloots says she has embraced the idea of living her life to the fullest — even as she grieves.
“I love creating. I love staying busy. I don’t idle well,” Kloots told CBS News’ David Begnaud.
Last year, she joined CBS’ “The Talk” as a cohost and competed in season 30 of “Dancing with the Stars.” And now, she’s written a book and soon-to-be movie titled “Live Your Life,” which was named after a song her late husband wrote. The song became a sort of anthem to her after Cordero’s death.
Cordero, a Broadway star, got sick with COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic. Kloots shared updates about his four-month long battle with the virus publicly, including on “CBS Mornings,” before his death in July 2020.
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It may seem like she has it all together despite the tragedy that thrust her into the public eye, but she says that she’s still mourning.
“I went to a show last night. I got home and I was pulling into the driveway, and a song from Journey came on that Nick sang in ‘Rock of Ages,’ and I just… I looked over at, you know, the passenger’s seat. And it was empty. And it… it hits you like a ton of bricks,” Kloots said.
“I miss having someone to come home to, and I miss laughing with somebody,” Kloots said. “Every time I retell this story, it’s amazing how helpful it is in this grieving journey. Grief does not stop. Loss, death, it does not end.”
Their son, Elvis, was just 1 years old when his father died. Even as Elvis gets older, Kloots says Cordero will always be a part of their life.
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Cordero and Kloots met in New York City while they were performing in the same show, “Bullets over Broadway.” He was the lead, she was in the ensemble.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, no. I like this guy.’ And then I was done. I was done for,” she said.
Just as the pandemic was taking hold of the U.S., they moved from New York to Los Angeles. It was around then, in mid-March, when Cordero started to feel sick.
“I watched him walk into Cedars-Sinai Hospital,” Kloots said. “And he never… he never came out.”
Noam Galai
She began sharing updates about Cordero’s health on social media.
“He went on a ventilator,” Kloots said. “You know, went into a medically-induced coma. He got sepsis. His heart stopped. He had his right leg amputated. I think that was like the first — like, that was like the first couple weeks.”
Cordero’s death was an alarm bell for many Americans — a healthy, young man with no pre-existing conditions dying as a result of the virus.
Eric McCandless
She told Begnaud that being so open about her life, though, hasn’t always been easy.
“People are gonna come at you at all angles for anything you do,” Kloots said. “I mean, they came at me when I said I started dating again. Everybody, you know, had their opinions.”
Kloots says she’s looking to find love again.
“I wanna have another person in my life. I want Elvis to have a father figure in his life,” she said. “You know, you’re not taking the place of Nick. It’s not ever that. It’s just that Nick was a part of my life.”
