“Ted Danson doesn’t get a free pass,” the star said. “Love his work, but you know…”

Ted Danson reveals ‘humbling’ health scare: ‘The real deal’

"Ted Danson doesn't get a free pass," the star said. "Love his work, but you know…"

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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May 7, 2026 11:18 a.m. ET

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Ted Danson at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards. Credit:

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

- Ted Danson opened up about his recent "humbling" health scare.

- The *Cheers* actor said the undisclosed ailment inspired him to make better lifestyle choices.

- One of those changes is meditation twice a day with his wife, Mary Steenburgen.

Ted Danson is opening up about a recent health scare and why he thinks it's "the best thing that could have happened" to him.

The *Cheers* alum, 78, recently revealed that he has since recovered from the undisclosed ailment, and that it inspired him to make positive changes in his life.

"I had a bit of a health scare. I'm totally fine, but it was like, 'Oh, oh, that's real,' and it was humbling," he told guest Valerie Bertinelli on the latest episode of the *Where Everybody Knows Your Name* podcast. "And, 'Oh, mortality, it's the real deal,' you know? It's not just a rumor. Ted Danson doesn't get a free pass. Love his work, but you know…"

Ted Danson on March 2026.

JC Olivera/Variety via Getty

The diagnosis was even more shocking at the time because it had occurred on its own and, he said, "I hadn't f---ed up in some way."

"I couldn't go, 'Oh, Ted,'" he said. "It was like, 'Oh, wow, I am…' And it was very humbling and calming."

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While *The Good Place* star reaffirmed that he's in good health now, the malady inspired him to adopt a better lifestyle.

"It was, I think, the best thing that could have happened to me, and I'm doing some things differently," he said. "I am meditating now twice a day with [my wife] Mary [Steenburgen] … I've always talked about it and lied about it, but now I really am."

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The scare also pushed him to focus on what really matters in his life.

"What it's done for me, the biggest gift of all... you can be curious about other people," he said. "You can listen. You can be supportive, caring. You can witness them. And I do believe that that's the rest of my life — is to be curious and listen. That's all… the best thing I can offer."

Watch Danson talk about his health in the podcast above.

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