Drew Carey is opening up about the tragic death of his former fiancée, Hollywood therapist Amie Harwick.
In an emotional sit-down with 48 Hours that aired Saturday night, the Price is Right host reflected on the murder of Harwick at the hands of a violent ex-boyfriend two years ago on Valentine’s Day weekend.
“I think about her every single day,” Carey told 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty. “I don’t know if I’ll ever want to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a dinner. You know? I just don’t want to do anything.”
In the revealing interview, Carey spoke about falling in love with Harwick, 38, who was known in Hollywood as an advocate for women and sexual health.
“I fell so hard for her,” Carey explained. “She was really smart. You want an intimate relationship where you can open up to somebody completely and be yourself. And she was that for me.”
Eventually, the couple broke up. Carey attributes the split to his hectic career, saying, “it was so painful.”
“We had some problems, and finally had to call it a day,” he shared. However, the couple remained friends after the breakup.
Shortly before her death, Harwick sent Carey a text asking to see him.
“I got a text from her. ‘I would love to get together with you and talk.’ And I said, ‘Yeah. I would love to do that, I love you,'” Carey recalled. However, he never got that chance to see her again.
“I never got it,” he shared. “I never got a chance to do it.”
Despite the tragedy, Carey finds tremendous comfort in knowing how much she cared for him.
“That’s the big solace that I get from it, is that she loved me and I’m glad I could get that message to her before she died,” Carey said.
Harwick had previously notified several friends that she had run into a dangerous ex-boyfriend, Gareth Pursehouse. However, she didn’t appear upset on the night of her death, and celebrated with friends at a burlesque show.
Sadly, the evening took a turn later on. In the early morning hours of Feb. 15, 2020, LAPD officers responded to a call for a “woman screaming.” They found Harwick lying on the ground, beaten and battered and unresponsive under the third-floor balcony of her Hollywood Hills home. She later died, with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office revealing the cause of death as blunt force injuries of the head and torso suffered when she “fell from a balcony after altercation.” There was also “evidence of manual strangulation.”
Evidence led investigators to Pursehouse, who was arrested and charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Immediately after hearing the news of Harwick’s death, Carey believed Pursehouse was involved.
“When I heard that she was murdered, right away I thought, ‘oh it’s gotta be that guy,'” Carey shared.
There was also new evidence released in the 48 Hours broadcast. At the crime scene, authorities discovered a syringe that contained nicotine they found on Harwick’s balcony. Prosecutors believe the syringe is evidence of Pursehouse’s intent to murder Harwick.
For those who loved Harwick, her tragic death is a reminder of how passionate she was about helping others. Carey noted that she cared deeply about domestic violence issues and helping patients who were victims of sexual abuse, and that he hopes her death will bring awareness to the commonality of intimate partner violence.
“She cared so much about helping people,” said Carey. “That was her life’s purpose. She just wanted to help people. Especially women. You can’t be a person in this country and not know a woman who hasn’t been a victim of domestic violence. You just can’t. And it’s really a problem that not enough people acknowledge.”
In the meantime, Carey said the holiday weekend will remain a challenging one.
“Valentine’s Day sucks now,” Carey said. “That’s not a good day to remember.”
