Martha Stewart playfully pushes Drew Barrymore away in touchy interview

Martha Stewart isn't afraid to push back — literally.

The TV personality playfully pushed Drew Barrymore away after the host got close and began touching her during a Tuesday appearance on "The Drew Barrymore Show."

At one point in the conversation, the "50 First Dates" star asked Stewart what makes her feel "soft and gooey," to which the author replied, "Soft and gooey treatment." Barrymore then placed her hand on Stewart and began stroking her back.

"You're the wrong gender," Stewart quipped before she lightheartedly pushed Barrymore.

"I know," said Barrymore, who played into the joke by dramatically falling all the way back on the couch.

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Though the moment was all in good fun, Barrymore is known to get up close and personal with guests and make physical contact while sitting close to them. During a viral interview with Kamala Harris earlier this year, Barrymore held hands with the vice president after telling her that "we need you to be Momala of the country." Barymore's touchy-feely interview with Oprah Winfrey also sparked mixed reactions last year. "Drew doesn’t have any personal space and I’m uncomfortable," one user wrote on Instagram.

In August, Barrymore told Entertainment Tonight that she would "try to practice physical distance, which is not my strong point," on the show going forward.

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Barrymore also acknowledged that not all viewers are fans of this interviewing style but said it was informed by the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Do you know how hard the pandemic was for me?" she told ET. "I was alone in a studio by myself. I like to be around people!"

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The actress previously said on "The Tonight Show" that she feels a "magnetic pull" to her guests after host Jimmy Fallon showed a series of photos of her getting close with various celebrities.

While promoting her newest cookbook, Stewart has been on a press tour that has been characterized by a series of surprisingly blunt remarks. In an interview with The New York Times, she sharply criticized a Netflix documentary about her, and on the "Rent Free" game show, she said that her neighbor Ryan Reynolds "isn't funny" in real life.

"He's a good actor," Stewart said. "He can act funny. But he isn't funny. Maybe he can get to be funny again. I'm going to get in trouble."