Bob Saget 'seemed great' before his death: Friends recall final conversations with comedian

Bob Saget's touring partner says he "seemed great" in his final days — and that's similar to what others who know and loved him are sharing.

Mike Young worked with the actor and comedian for 12 years — talking to him daily — and was scheduled to be the opening act for his next I Don't Do Negative comedy tour date. Sadly, on Sunday, he got the call from the Full House alum's wife, Kelly Rizzo, that Saget died in his Ritz-Carlton Orlando hotel room.

"I spoke to his wife," Young said on the Today show. "She called me when it happened. He passed away in his sleep. It was unexpected and it was just one of those things you can't believe."

Young shared his final text from Saget, which ended with, "I love you and you're my brother." That was a typical sign-off, he said. "He always ended it with, 'I love you.' He was an 'I love you' guy."

Just prior to Saget's death, he "seemed great and he seemed excited about going on the road," Young said in an interview with Page Six.

"We had [the] West Palm Beach [tour date] lined up [on Jan. 28] and we were about to take off from there," said Young, who was going to open for Saget on tour dates spanning through June.

"Bob seemed excited about his new material," Young said, but noted that Saget was looking forward to time-off first, after his final Jacksonville show on Jan. 8, to spend quality time with his wife and family.

"He was excited about going on vacation with his wife pretty soon," Young said. "He was excited to see his daughters. He had so much to live for and was looking forward to all of it."

A string of celebrities — including Full House's John Stamos and Candace Cameron Bure, John Mayer and comedian Jeff Ross — have been photographed visiting Saget's widow in the wake of the star's unexpected death. Stamos — who played Danny Tanner's brother-in-law Uncle Jesse — said he's "not ready" to accept the news. He also gave a glimpse into Saget's final hours.

"I'm not going to say goodbye yet," he wrote. "I'm going to imagine him out there, still on the road, doing what he loves with all his heart and humor," he wrote. "He's standing on stage, killing! Another two-hour set in front of a couple hundred of the luckiest people on the planet." (Saget's last social media post was about being adrenalized after his two-hour show and how he was "addicted" to standup.)

"On his way to the hotel, he calls his beautiful, loving wife, Kelly," Stamos continued. "He says he feels 26 again, alive! Then asks her to fix up a picture he wants to post. She tells him it doesn't need fixing, and tells him how handsome he is. He tells her he loves her with every bit of his heart. And when he gets to the hotel to put his head on the pillow, he misses his daughters, his family, his friends. God, he loves us all so much. And he goes to sleep dreaming of when we'll all meet again — and he's smiling. I know in my heart he's smiling, still hearing the laughter from a few hours before."

Saget's comedian pal Gilbert Gottfried also shared their final conversation days before his sudden death.

"It was just a typical fun, craziness," he said on the Hollywood Raw podcast. "We just say outrageous stuff. We make each other laugh. It's like there was nothing that was any different than any other time... Always cracking jokes. The minute either one of us started talking seriously we'd come in with a totally bad taste joke."

He also noted that Saget was "looking forward to going back on the road" with his comedy show.

Gottfried said Jeff Ross was the one who called him to break the news that Saget died. When he shared those words, Gottfried thought it was "a sick joke," but was waiting for "the punchline ... Then I find out there is no punchline."

One of Saget's three daughters, Aubrey, also shared her last exchange with her dad — apparently from before he took the stage at his last show — on her private Instagram account. It said: "Thank u. Love u. Showtime!"

On Monday, Rizzo — who married Saget in 2018 — issued a statement on her husband's death.

“My whole heart," she said. "Bob was my absolute everything. I am so completely shattered and in disbelief. I am so deeply touched by the outpouring of love and tribute from our friends, family, his fans and his peers. When the time is right and when this news is not as raw, I look forward to sharing more of Bob with the world. Sharing how much he meant to me, all of those around him, and how much all of his fans and friends meant to him as well. Thank you for respecting my privacy at this time."

An insider told People magazine that Rizzo spoke to her husband "in the early morning hours on Sunday" after his stand-up show." He "was so excited coming off of a great and he sounded really happy... He was scheduled to fly home" on Sunday afternoon, so when she didn't hear from him, she called the hotel and security was sent to his room.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Saget entered this hotel room around 2:20 a.m. on Sunday — after the two-hour drive from Jacksonville. Security performed the wellness check and he was found deceased "in a supine position on his bed," or on his back facing up, and was "not responsive, not breathing" and had "no pulse." He was declared dead on the scene. Detectives found no signs of trauma and no drugs.

The autopsy was conducted on Monday. There was no evidence of drug use or foul play," according to Orange and Osceola Counties chief medical examiner Joshua Stephany. The cause and manner of death are pending further studies and investigation which may take up to 10-12 weeks.

Saget had recently said that he had COVID, though he shared no exact timeline of when he tested positive. It seems he was not battling it at the time of his death because he performed his comedy shows.