Rachel Uchitel Shares How She and Daughter Wyatt Remember Her Fiance Who Died on 9/11

Credit: Phil Penman

Rachel Uchitel Shares How She and Daughter Wyatt Remember Her Fiance Who Died on 9/11

Gone but never forgotten. Rachel Uchitel opened up to Us Weekly exclusively about her late fiance Andy O’Grady, who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks. The 43-year-old became the face of tragedy when she was featured on a 2011 cover of the New York Post holding a picture of investment banker O’Grady. “That photo of me was taken because I had gone out to a bunch of hospitals to see if his name was on a list. It was the only way to find out if he was alive,” she tells Us. “I remember leaving the TV on [in] my apartment to feel less alone. It was on for a month. I never turned it off.” Eventually, reality set in and Uchitel realized that she would never see her 32-year-old fiancé again. “I planned a memorial at the end of September … at the boathouse in Central Park where he proposed to me,” she recalls to Us. “So many of his friends and family were a part of it and shared their favorite memories.” Uchitel received confirmation around New Year’s Eve that O’Grady’s body had been found. Read more of Uchitel’s story below.

Credit: Phil Penman

Rachel Uchitel Shares How She and Daughter Wyatt Remember Her Fiance Who Died on 9/11

Gone but never forgotten. Rachel Uchitel opened up to Us Weekly exclusively about her late fiance Andy O’Grady, who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks. The 43-year-old became the face of tragedy when she was featured on a 2011 cover of the New York Post holding a picture of investment banker O’Grady. “That photo of me was taken because I had gone out to a bunch of hospitals to see if his name was on a list. It was the only way to find out if he was alive,” she tells Us. “I remember leaving the TV on [in] my apartment to feel less alone. It was on for a month. I never turned it off.” Eventually, reality set in and Uchitel realized that she would never see her 32-year-old fiancé again. “I planned a memorial at the end of September … at the boathouse in Central Park where he proposed to me,” she recalls to Us. “So many of his friends and family were a part of it and shared their favorite memories.” Uchitel received confirmation around New Year’s Eve that O’Grady’s body had been found. Read more of Uchitel’s story below.

Credit: Phil Penman

In Her Memory

The TV correspondent does something special to honor O’Grady every September. “The decade anniversary was the last time that I went down there to the World Trade [Center],” she tells Us. “That was monumental for me. … It’s very hard for me, so I don’t go down there or spend so much time there.”

Credit: Phil Penman

Family Time

Uchitel tells her 6-year-old daughter, Wyatt, whom she shares with ex-husband Matt Hahn, all about her time with O’Grady. “The older she gets, the more I can do to tell her what happened that day and what happened to someone that I loved,” she says. “She’s grown up knowing about Andy.”

Credit: Phil Penman

Never Forget

On the 16th anniversary of the attacks, the former nightclub manager and her little girl went to a pier in Manhattan and “looked at the lights in the sky representing the Twin Towers,” she tells Us.

Credit: Phil Penman

Seeking Comfort

Uchitel says she adopted a “funny-looking” dog two days after 9/11, and she named him after former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. “I’ve had Rudy for 17 years, and he is now blind and deaf,” she says.

Credit: Phil Penman

Staying Strong

The Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew alum (who infamously had an affair with Tiger Woods in 2009) tells Us that she “can deal with anything” due to her tough past. “I handle crisis well, more rational,” she says. “I’ve developed a very thick skin. It’s hard to throw me off of anything because I’ve juggled a lot in my life.”

Credit: Phil Penman

Special Keepsakes

Uchitel still carries O’Grady with her every day. “I have a bracelet that I had made with his name on it, and in my wallet I have a laminated picture of him,” she tells Us. “In my apartment, I always keep a box … [with] things that belonged to me and Andy.”

Credit: Phil Penman

Little Mementos

Uchitel also has O’Grady’s ID badge from his job at the World Trade Center. She says of the keepsake, “It was hard to get, but you’re happy to get it.”