Suzanne Somers 'proud' of nearly-nude 'birthday suit' photo: 'I was 73 and it was natural'

This is the second of three installments in Yahoo Life's Unapologetically Suzanne video series with Suzanne Somers.

At 74, Suzanne Somers is thriving: The Step by Step alum has a great sex life with her husband, Alan Hamel, and is happy to rock short shorts whenever the temperature climbs high enough — as it often does in her home of Palm Springs, Calif.

And sometimes, clothes are totally optional — such as when, in 2019, Hamel snapped a photo of her nearly nude, crouching down in some grass. The picture of Somers quickly went viral.

"To make it look like I was in the grass, I pulled my straps down and it was pretty cleavage-y. I wasn't nude," she tells Yahoo Life. "I had no idea it was going to go viral, but it went viral because I was 73 and it was natural. I am proud of that picture."

In Somers's three-part series for Yahoo Life, Unapologetically Suzanne, the star shares why she doesn’t worry about aging — and why she would never want to be 24 again.

"Chronologically I am old, but I'm not old," Somers says. "I'm looking forward to the next three decades, honestly."

She credits her optimistic outlook for her joy, explaining, "Whenever I feel any negative coming into my brain, I push it away and exchange it with something positive, something that reeks of gratitude and has served me so well."

One other way she makes sure she stays happy and healthy? By sticking to a healthy diet and cutting out processed food — a lifestyle choice she focused on after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001.

"I eat as though my life depends upon it because I have had cancer," she explains. "I do believe my body and my life depend on the food that I eat."

"I have good hair and I have good skin and I'm not terribly wrinkled. And the wrinkles I have don't bother me because I deserve some at 74."

And she also deserves to dress exactly how she wants — regardless of what the "trolls" have to say about it.

"I love the way my body looks. I wear short shorts at 74 'cause it's hot where I live," she says. "That picture of me in those short shorts was a few months ago. My granddaughter was staying overnight [at the time] and she came down the stairs and went, ‘Look at us, we’re dressed exactly the same.'"

While Somers may twin occasionally with her 25-year-old granddaughter, she has no interest in returning to that time in her life.

"Right now, if you said, 'Suzanne, you can be 24 again,' I don't think I would take that," she says. "I like it better now."

After all, for Somers and Hamel, these really are their "golden years."

"We go out, we dance, I get dressed up. I wear cocktail dresses. I wear high heels," she says. "So I don't think life could be better."

And it’s more than just life in her 70s that Somers is happy with.

"I know this sounds weird, but I really like who I am," she explains. "I really like me."