Ellen DeGeneres is paying tribute to her longtime friend Stephen “tWitch” Boss on the one-year anniversary of his death.
The dancer, who worked as a producer and appeared as a DJ on The Ellen Show, was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room on Dec. 13, 2022. His death was later ruled a suicide.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, DeGeneres looked back on the times she shared with Boss, who was only 40 years old at the time of his death.
“First of all, there are so many memories that I have of tWitch,” she said in the video. “I love that every single day after the show we would sing and dance to some song. And then we would make each other laugh somehow.”
She continued, “And then we would walk off arm in arm and walk to my dressing room, which was the first one we got to and I would say, ‘I love you,’ and he’d say, ‘Love you much.’ And then he would walk off to his. And every single day, that’s how we ended the show, arm in arm. I miss that.”
The former talk show host then recalled “one of the last trips” they took together before The Ellen Show ended in 2022. At the time, the duo jetted off to Las Vegas to see Silk Sonic perform.
“That was really fun,” she said. “Singing to each other and just being in Vegas together was really fun.”
DeGeneres also remembered taking a trip with Boss and The Ellen Show’s executive producer Andy Lassner to Miraval, which she called “one of the funniest” adventures they ever embarked on together. The comedian even pointed out one “hilarious” moment when Boss and Lassner climbed to the top of a pole.
“He was so scared to do that. And when he got on that pole, that high up, and stood, and then Andy had to join him?” she said. “That was one of the most fun shoots that we have ever done and one of the last trips that we took.”
DeGeneres concluded her tribute by noting that Boss’ “memory lives on.”
“I love him so much. I miss him so much,” she said. “And it’s a reminder every single day that you just don’t know what people are going through, because he was a happy guy, I thought, and I was really close to him. And he never shared that with me.”
She added, “So, that is sad, that he didn’t feel like he could find a way out and share that he was struggling. Because we all would have done anything we could to help him. I miss him every single day but I have amazing memories of him.”
If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988.