Jennifer Love Hewitt has recalled how the media learned of her mother's death hours before she did.
During a recent conversation with her 9-1-1 co-star Bryan Safi to promote her upcoming book Inheriting Magic, the actress described how she discovered her mum Patricia Mae had passed away when she landed back in the U.S. following a work trip in June 2012.
Patricia Mae, who had been battling cancer, was 67.
"The part that I didn't put in the book is that actually the press knew that my mom had passed before I did," she told the audience at a Los Angeles bookstore, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "The flight time with me getting back was so long. It was like a 10-and-a-half-hour flight, so by the time I arrived, everybody knew, and it was such a weird thing for me."
Reflecting on the moment further, Jennifer admitted that she shouldn't have been surprised by the way she found out about the sad news as she is always the last to know about everything.
"Then later on, I was like, 'But everybody's always known everything about my life kind of before.' Even breakups, people have been like, 'He was cheating on you already.' Really, people? Like, why didn't you tell me?" the 45-year-old added jokingly.
In her new book, titled Inheriting Magic: My Journey Through Grief, Joy, Celebration, and Making Every Day Magical, Jennifer discusses the ways she tries to continue her mum's traditions of making all of those around her feel special.
"If I had a broken heart or a bad day, she would put up Christmas lights because she believed that that sort of lifted the mood. If I had bad cramps, there were lights," she offered as an examples of her mum's kindness.
Inheriting Magic is set to be released on 10 December.
In addition, Jennifer is starring in Lifetime festive movie The Holiday Junkie alongside her husband Brian Hallisay. The flick is set to drop on 14 December.
