Ralph Cirella, 58, a stylist and makeup artist, passed away on Tuesday following treatment for an uncommon type of lymphoma.
On Wednesday morning, Howard Stern revealed the passing of his longtime friend and stylist on his SiriusXM radio program, The Howard Stern Show. Stern, 69, went on to say that Cirella’s “heart gave out” during a procedure.
The host remarked, “Ralph was a reliable, kind friend who made me laugh each moment I was with him.”
The show paid homage to Cirella, whom Stern had known for forty years and had previously appeared on the program multiple times. Stern disclosed that he had spoken with his deceased friend the evening before he died, during which they talked about the cancer being “curable and treatable” and expressed optimism for the future.
“I believe that losing someone is the most difficult aspect of loving them,” Stern remarked. “I loved Ralph, Lord knows.” “You and Ralph have a secret language,” my wife told me last night, and it’s true. Ralph was one of my brothers, and we had a great friendship and chemistry. I started to consider Ralph to be family.
The celebrity went on, “I just have been so sad and so angry.” “He neglected his own needs.”
The radio host also shared memories of the evening that Cirella forced Stern to attend a party, where he eventually met Beth Ostrosky, the woman he married in 2008.
Stern said, “I met Beth because of him.”
John Stamos also paid respect to Cirella by praising their friendship in a long Instagram caption.
The actor wrote, “We all saw the painful reality that Ralph struggled to find the motivation to fully realize his abundance of untapped potential.” “It is a moving reminder of the erratic nature of life and the value of pursuing our goals and seeing them through to the very end.”
“My heart aches at the thought of Ralph leaving this world alone, never having experienced the profound love he so richly deserved,” he went on. I told you a story about someone who called me lucky in our last conversation. They gave me a straightforward but insightful explanation when I asked why: “Because you’re friends with Ralph from the Howard Stern show.” And they were entirely correct.
The sixty-year-old Full House alumnus described Cirella as “one-of-a-kind” and reminisced about their friendship, which began when they worked together on Stern’s Channel 9 show in the “old days” of the 1990s.
Part of the post said, “Ralph wasn’t just a friend; he was family.”