Niemi Feared Drunk Swayze
By WENNFriday, April 9, 2010
PATRICK SWAYZE’s widow walked out on the DIRTY DANCING star during the lowest point of his alcoholism battle - because she was convinced he would hurt her in a drunken rage.
Lisa Niemi insists the actor, who died last year (09) after losing his fight with pancreatic cancer, completely transformed when he began drinking.
She says, “For me the worst thing about him was the drinking. He had a different personality when he drank that much. He was the nicest man on the planet unless he’d had a drink. People or animals could have got hurt when he was like that. It’s not good to be around anyone like that.”
Swayze entered rehab after Niemi moved out - and she insists their marriage improved in their final years together.
She adds, “We told each other we loved each other over and over again. I never left the room without telling him. It still didn’t feel like enough.”
