Martha Stewart isn’t a fan of Drew Barrymore’s signature touchy-feely approach to daytime TV.
The domestic doyenne, 83, appeared on “The Drew Barrymore Show” on Tuesday to promote her new cookbook — her 100th — and pushed the host away after she got a little too up close and personal.
The awkward encounter occurred when Barrymore, 49, sidled up alongside Stewart on the daytime show’s enormous couch, and, with a mischievous look in her eye and a finger in her mouth, asked the legendary homemaker if there’s anything that makes her feel “soft and gooey.”
Stewart looked slightly confused by the question and repeated it before answering, “Soft and gooey… treatment.”
Barrymore then touched Stewart’s shoulder, parroting the cookbook queen’s answer. “Soft and gooey treatment,” she said. “When you’re treated like a lady.”
“Yes, it’s nice,” Stewart said as Barrymore began stroking her arm and her back.
The audience began to laugh, prompting Stewart to give them a knowing look. Stewart then cut Barrymore off, saying, “You’re the wrong gender,” before pushing her away.
“I know!” the “Charlie’s Angels” star responded sadly as she fell back on her couch in dejection.
Barrymore has been criticized in the past for invading her guests’ personal space. The daytime host recently revealed that she is aware of the criticism vowed she would “try to practice physical distance,” but admitted it is “not my strong point.”
“Do you know how hard the pandemic was for me?” she told Entertainment Tonight in August. “I was alone in a studio by myself! I like to be around people!”
Barrymore went on to acknowledge that her touchy approach is “not everyone’s favorite.”
“I’m sorry to those people!” she said.
The “Ever After” star also seemed to suggest that her hands-on attitude is meant as an expression of “joy” in an effort 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.
“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 continued, “I love listening to people. I love learning from people. I’m a student. I will never not be a student.”
Speaking with her “Fever Pitch” co-star Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” in April 2023, Barrymore also said that she felt a “magnetic pull” to be physically close to the guests on her show.
