Burt Reynolds Would “Be Incredibly Touched” to Reconnect With Former Flame Sally Field (EXCLUSIVE)

Though it’s been years since Burt Reynolds and Sally Field called it quits on their five-year Hollywood romance, the 82-year-old actor still hopes he might reconnect with the woman he’s called the love of his life sometime in the future.

“Burt and Sally ended on a bad note when they split in 1982, but he’d love a visit from her,” a friend of Burt’s exclusively told Closer Weekly in the magazine’s latest issue, on newsstands now. “He would be incredibly touched if she came and they could talk over old times — the good times.”

Lucky for Burt, a long-awaited reunion with Sally, 71, could actually happen. According to his close pal, the Emmy winner is considering a move to LA from Tequesta, FL where he’s lived at Valhalla, a Spanish Revival–style mansion on waterfront property, for the past 30 years. Not only would the West Coast bring him physically closer to Sally, but Burt is currently filming his newest movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, in LA.

“I miss her terribly. Even now, it’s hard on me,” Burt has said of Sally, who is also now single after two past marriages to her high school sweetheart Steven Craig and film producer Alan Greisman. (Burt also has two failed marriages: he was hitched to late actress Judy Carne from 1963 until 1965 and actress Loni Anderson from 1988 to 1994).

Burt and Sally previously started dating in the late 1970s after co-starring in several movies, including Smokey and the Bandit, The End, Hooper, and Smokey and the Bandit II. So, why did the seemingly perfect pair eventually separate? According to biographer Marc Eliot, “Burt broke up with Sally because she was pressuring him to get married.”

Sadly, Burt and Sally’s split is something the actor still regrets to this day. “I don’t know why I was so stupid. You find the perfect person, then you do everything you can to screw it up. She’s the love of my life,” Burt has said.

For more on Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter for more exclusive news!