Anna Cardwell's Widower Admits He Doesn't Want to Be 'Alone' as He Watches Her Story Play Out on TV (Exclusive)
Ahead of the premiere of his wife's reality show, which will chronicle her cancer journey this season, Eldridge Toney tells PEOPLE "it might be good for me to watch it with other people who loved her"
Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell’s husband Eldridge Toney admits he has "mixed feelings" about reliving his wife’s cancer journey on the new season of Mama June: Family Crisis.
“I have joy in the sense of I get to rewatch the special moment between us two,” he tells PEOPLE of watching the WE tv series, which premieres Friday. “And it’s also going to be heartbreaking in the same sense because you know like seeing how happy and healthy she was then opposed to her final days.”
The premiere of the family’s reality show comes two months after Cardwell died from stage 4 adrenal carcinoma.
“Hearing her voice again, and seeing her facial expressions. obviously, I’ve seen pictures and stuff from our wedding but it’s not the same as watching that moment happen,” he shares.
Toney says he plans to be surrounded by family when he watches the series including Cardwell’s mother June Shannon and her husband Justin Stroud.
“Honestly, my plans are probably gonna watch it with June and Justin,” he notes. “You know they do their watch parties like that on TikTok. I’m not sure if I want to watch it alone because it is kind of personal thing.”
He adds, “I think for the first time watching it, it might be good for me to watch it with other people who loved her.”
In December 2023, Shannon announced on Instagram that Cardwell had died after a months-long cancer journey.
"With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us," she began the caption of her post alongside a family photograph. "She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM."
"She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months she passed away with her family around her like she won’t and we will will be updating y’all with more information as we get it today," Shannon continued.
Shortly after, PEOPLE confirmed that Cardwell and Toney — who began dating in 2017 after Cardwell's divorce from ex-husband Michael Cardwell, with whom she welcomed Madison in 2015 and Kaitlyn in 2012 — had gotten married following her diagnosis in January 2023. The couple wed on March 4 in Wilkinson County, Georgia.
At the time, Toney previously told PEOPLE about the pact the couple made upon learning of her cancer diagnosis, including "never go to bed angry or in a fight because you never know what tomorrow will bring.”
“She was the one I was supposed to grow old with,” he added. “She was my one true love, she was that for me. I will never stop loving her. There will never be another Anna.”
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Mama June: Family Crisis premieres Friday at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.
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