Allison Holker Boss — the wife of Stephen “tWitch” Boss — opened up about her late husband in her first television interview since his tragic death.
While speaking with The Today Show host Hoda Kotb, Holker Boss said she was just as blindsided as the rest of the world when the Ellen Degeneres Show personality died by suicide in December 2022.
“I still feel like the rest of the world where I’m still shocked,” Holker told Kotb. “No one’s ready for that moment and there’s no one that saw this coming. No one — and that also breaks my heart too.”
She continued, “He wanted to be the strong one for everyone and I think that was a little scary for him to think that he might need to ask for help. He was so much love and light. He really wanted to be everyone’s Superman, he said that a lot.”
The couple met on the set of So You Think You Can Dance in 2010 before tying the knot in 2013. They share three children — Maddox, 7, Zaia, 3, and 14-year-old, Weslie, Holker’s daughter whom Boss adopted.
As for how she managed to have the difficult conversation about Boss’ death with her young children, Holker Boss tearfully said it’s something she “wouldn’t wish for anybody.”
“There’s been some really hard conversations,” she explained. “To us, Daddy’s in the stars. So we can go outside and talk to him whenever we want … They just ask, ‘When is Daddy coming back?’ and that’s a really hard one.”
Holker Boss added, “And then it’ll be a couple weeks later, ‘But does he come back when he’s older? Like, when Daddy’s older he’ll come back?’ But they are still children and still obviously want him here.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the dancer said she didn’t have “any other choice but to be strong” and revealed that she talks to Boss — whom she called one of the most “magical humans” — at the end of every day.
“I don’t allow myself to be in a place of anger or sadness, though I allow myself to feel it,” she said. “I’m feeling this much pain because I’ve had so much love.”
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.