Dyan Cannon may have plenty of friends, but none with “benefits.”
The actress caused a stir at the 10th annual Hollywood Beauty Awards in April when she seemingly revealed that, at age 88, she had “several friends with benefits.”
Cannon, who once dated Johnny Carson and was married to Cary Grant, is the co-host of a new podcast, “God’s Table Hollywood,” which features faith-based conversations about finding purpose.
DYAN CANNON DENIED WHITE HOUSE ENTRY AFTER LYING ABOUT HER AGE ON PASSPORT DOCUMENTS
“I went to the red carpet and this really cool gal from People magazine said, ‘Can we interview you?’” Cannon told Fox News Digital. “I said yes. And she said, ‘Do you have a lot of friends in Hollywood?’ And I said, ‘I do. I have some nice friends.’ And she said, ‘Friends with benefits?’ I said, ‘Of course! And they benefit me in more than one way.’
“And she said, ‘Well, how is that?’ And I said, ‘They keep coming. They just keep benefiting me in more than one way.’ ‘Oh, Ms. Cannon, thank you so much for this interview!’ I thought, ‘Well, OK.’”
It was only after Cannon’s comments made headlines that she realized her mistake.
WATCH: DYAN CANNON CLEARS THE AIR ON ‘FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS’
“I did not know what that meant!” she said. “My friends said to me, ‘Dyan, come on.’ I said, ‘No, my best friend didn’t know what it meant. My brother didn’t know what it meant.’ ‘Well, there’s a movie [with Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake].’ I said, ‘I don’t see all movies!’ Friends with benefits? Friends are kind to me, friends . . . help me. That’s what I meant by it.”
“The next morning, my phone was blowing up,” Cannon recalled. “[It] was all over the world. I got some congratulatory notes. I received some messages from my Christian friends that said, ‘Oh, well, Dyan, that’s not very nice of you.’ I said, ‘Guys, come on. I thought friends with benefits meant friends who benefit your life!’ How do words get . . . How do things get so screwed up? So misunderstood.”
At first, it was no laughing matter for Cannon, who was horrified by the unexpected attention she was getting.
“It really upset me in the beginning because, oh my gosh, that kind of publicity I don’t need,” she explained. “If that were the truth, why would I be telling People magazine about my sex life? There’s no way. But . . . the congratulatory notes are what really turned me around.”
“’Good for you, Dyan!’” she said, laughing. “I got credit for something that wasn’t credible.”
Cannon and Grant, who was 33 years her senior, were married from 1965 to 1968. They welcomed a daughter, Jennifer Grant, in 1966. The Oscar nominee later married lawyer-turned-real estate investor Stanley Fimberg from 1985 to 1991.
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Cannon stressed that having “friends with benefits” isn’t her style due to her faith. What she hasn’t ruled out, though, is a chance to meet one special someone. Just don’t expect her to start swiping right anytime soon.
“I was going to [try dating apps] and my girlfriend, who’s very hip in the area, warned me about it,” said Cannon.
“She said, ‘No, don’t do that.’ But I know friends who have done it. They’re married and have good marriages. I haven’t been led to do that because . . . I don’t know. It scares me a little bit about motives. I haven’t done it. But I have friends who have done it successfully. I have friends who have done it and have been bitten.”
These days, Cannon is embracing the single life.
“It took me a long time to learn how to be happy by myself because I really thought I was incomplete without a man in my life,” she admitted.
“I was raised to think that you marry, you have children and that’s what makes a happy life. And in my case, it wasn’t. But I’ve learned how to be happy alone. There’s great freedom in that because then you don’t settle for the broken set of dishes. You’re not with somebody just because you’re lonely. You’re not with someone just because you’re afraid to be alone.”
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“I’m absolutely open to dating,” Cannon continued. “There’s no one in my life right now that I’m dating, but I have two rescue puppies, and they’re great company, and I have wonderful friends. Should the right one come along, I think [that will be] a real blessing to have.”
While Cannon is open to finding love again, she doesn’t envision herself saying “I do” once more.
“I was forced to give up my career in marriage,” she said. “And looking back, I don’t think I would do that again. I would not want to trade one for the other. But I think it’s possible when you’re with somebody who really supports you and loves you to manage both.”
“I think we all have to be true to . . . our highest sense of right, not listen so much to what the world says we should be doing. … When I am in line with that, I’m fine. And when I go against that, I mess it up badly. … I don’t know if I’d want to get married again, but I would love to be able to sit down with somebody and hold hands and talk about the things that are important in life. I like that idea.”
Today, Cannon said she’s finding happiness not with a new man, but by launching “God’s Table Hollywood.” She’s co-hosting alongside Emmy Award-winning actress Tracey Bregman, TV personality and journalist Kym Douglas-Robertson and chef Christine Avanti-Fischer.
“The four of us were at dinner one night at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills,” said Cannon. “One of the girls said, ‘God’s table.’ And I said, ‘In Hollywood?’ And we said, ‘That’s a show — ‘God’s Table Hollywood.’ It happened just like that.”
“We know each other’s views, and we don’t always agree on everything, which I think makes for interesting conversation,” she said. “There are three very strong women, and I’m just delighted to be a part of it.”
