Drew Barrymore finally reveals why she awkwardly sits so close to her talk show guests

Drew Barrymore has received the memo: people need their personal space.

The daytime host, 49, revealed that she is going to work on keeping “physical distance” between her and her guests on the upcoming season of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” acknowledging the backlash she faced on social media from many who believed her physical interactions with celebrity guests have been just plain weird.

“I’ll try to practice physical distance, which is not my strong point,” the “Charlie’s Angels” star told Entertainment Tonight following the talk show’s renewal for Seasons 6 and 7 on Thursday.

“Do you know how hard the pandemic was for me?” she went on. “I was alone in a studio by myself! I like to be around people!”

However, Barrymore now realizes that getting up close and personal is “not everyone’s favorite.”

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“I’m sorry to those people!” she said, alluding to guests that might have been thrown off guard on her show.

The “Never Been Kissed” star seemed to suggest that her touchy-feely approach was meant as an expression of “joy” to create a “feel good” show.

“I think that first of all we’re always gonna be big on joy and laughter and feeling good, and that was something I always wanted to do, but I never thought we would launch in a pandemic, and trying to lean into the joy and the feel good and the comedy at that time was real weird and wacky,” she explained.

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“I am so into working on myself as a person that I think that’s always gonna be a big part of the show: ‘How do we live a life? How do we thrive and not just survive?’”

She added, “I love listening to people. I love learning from people. I’m a student. I will never not be a student.”

Barrymore also spoke about what she sees her show’s mission statement to be – “to feel and believe in the good” – and how that was inspired by her experience as a child actress starring in the iconic film “E.T.”

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“Ever since I did ‘E.T.’ as a kid, I was very convinced that people want a collective experience,” she explained.

“They want community. They want to watch something and experience something together. And that really hit me; seeing all those lines around the corner, and people coming out of the theater, laughing and crying.”

She continued, “We need this. We need the life affirming. We need to feel and believe in the good. Because it’s there. And I will spend every day finding it. And it’s needed for when it’s not there. And life is the rollercoaster but what a lovely ride.”

Barrymore has faced tremendous scrutiny for getting what many deemed a little too close for comfort with her celebrity guests, often touching them, holding their hands and, in one instance, making a guest touch her shaved legs.

Some viewers got upset when she caressed and clutched Oprah Winfrey’s hand on a December 2023 episode of the show. However, Winfrey later told TMZ that she was not uncomfortable.

Speaking with her “Fever Pitch” co-star Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” in April 2023, she explained that she felt a “magnetic pull” to be physically close to the people she interviews.

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