TABATHA COFFEY My Love, My Loss

FOR THE FIRST TIME THE FORMER REALITY TV STAR SHARES THE STORY OF HER 25-YEAR ROMANCE AND WHAT SHE LEARNED FROM CARING FOR HER PARTNER UNTIL THE END

- ADAM CARLSON

She built her career as a celebrated hairstylist and reality TV star who doled out brutally candid tough love to business owners on shows like Bravo's Tabatha Takes Over. But there's one thing that Tabatha Coffey, 57, has never talked about until now. "If I cry, ignore me," she tells People at the start of an emotional interview about her life with Diane Keeler, her partner of 25 years, who died from cancer in 2022.

Intensely private, Coffey spent a quarter century loving Keeler, building a home with her and then caring for her during her eight-year battle with cancer and stroke complications before finally deciding to share one of the most powerful and difficult lessons she has learned along the way: how to cope with the loss of a loved one. "My intention is to help others, because we are all going to join the club," she says. "I hope that by talking about it, it reminds people they're not alone."