Ryan O'Neal begged Farrah Fawcett for forgiveness on her deathbed.

The 71-year-old actor - who has stage four prostate cancer - was with his ex-wife when she passed away in 2009 after a prolonged cancer battle and Ryan revealed he poured his heart out to her before she died.

Speaking on 'The View', he said: ''I climbed into bed with her and I asked for forgiveness. I said please forgive me.''

Ryan is currently promoting the book 'Both of Us' which he wrote about his relationship with Farrah, the mother of his 27-year-old son Redmond and says putting his thoughts down on paper was a cathartic experience.

He told 'Today' host Matt Lauer: ''I'm not over her death yet. I got some relief writing the book. She loved me. She said she loved me. I couldn't write a book if she hadn't.''

''I wrote it because I missed her, and it was a way to keep the line between us going. I still felt she was there when I wrote this.

''She was so strong and brave and never afraid for a minute. She always believed she'd be here on the show with us today. Now it's just me.''