Giuliana Rancic opened up about her late friend Joan Rivers in a new interview, revealing that she — along with Rivers’ daughter Melissa — aren’t sure about the future of their popular E! series Fashion Police in the wake of the comedienne’s death.
“It was the shock of a lifetime, it really was,” Rancic, 40, told ABC News of Rivers’ passing on Sept. 4. “I had just seen Joan 48 hours before her procedure. We were taping the Emmy Fashion Police show and she was honestly better than ever and she even looked better than ever at 81.”
Rivers stopped breathing while undergoing an outpatient procedure on her vocal cords on Aug. 28 and died a week later. Rancic recalled complimenting the trailblazing star just before her surgery, noting that Rivers didn’t take flattery well.
“She wasn’t one to ever take a compliment, but she didn’t say ‘Stop it’ that day. She just kind of smiled and said, ‘Thank you,'” Rancic explained. “I’ll never forget that, that moment. When this all happened, that was one of the first things I thought about…I just remember thinking, ‘I’m just so happy we told her that day once again how much we love her and how beautiful she is, both inside and out.'”
Rancic and Rivers had worked together on Fashion Police with fellow co-hosts Kelly Osbourne and George Kotsiopoulos since 2009. “I still think she’s going to walk through the door and yell, ‘Giuliana, get back to work.’ And it’s hard to wrap my mind around never seeing her again,” she continued to ABC News. “Joan really was larger than life. I think that’s a reason I can’t imagine her gone.”
PHOTOS: Guiliana at the Emmys
Amid ongoing reports of Rivers’ untimely death, Rancic and Melissa will next pay tribute to the legendary comedienne this Friday with the special Fashion Police: Celebrating Joan. Read celebs’ touching tributes to Joan.
“Melissa was Joan’s world. I’ve been friends with Melissa a really long time and I’m just trying to help her out,” Rancic said. As for whether Fashion Police will continue without Joan? That has yet to be determined.
“They are looking at different scenarios,” Rancic said. “A lot of that will be up to [Melissa] and how she’s feeling and how she decides what she wants to do, along with the execs here at E! There is no word now — they are seeing what Fashion Police looks like without Joan.”
She added: “A part of me is like Joan would want Melissa and us and the team to go on and I know she would, but it’s just a matter of can there be a show without Joan? Do we want to do a Fashion Police without Joan? I don’t know.”
