Derek Hough recalls 'shocking' death of a friend following tWitch’s suicide
Hough worked with Stephen 'tWitch' Boss when he was the guest judge on 'World of Dance'
December 17, 2022
Derek Hough broke down while ralking about mental health and suicide prevention following the death of colleague Stephen 'tWitch' Boss.
Hough took to Instagram to share an emotional video on Friday, December 16, 2022, in which he recalled the tragic death of a close friend which was followed by his colleague tWitch’s death, via Us Magazine.
He captioned the video with the National Suicide and Prevention Lifeline number.
“I was actually going to make this video a couple weeks ago because I found out a man I knew died by suicide on Thanksgiving morning, and it was a complete shock because he was the most positive, just optimistic, beautiful man you could ever imagine, and it was jolting to say the least,” the Dancing With the Stars judge, 37, said. “But it was a harsh reminder of this time of year and of depression, of seasonal depression and just circumstances and the time of year when people feel like it’s too much.”
“The fact that [tWitch] went the exact same way as this man within a few weeks, it’s just heartbreaking, confusing, shocking,” he said. “There’s so many different feelings and I’m trying to figure it out.”
Hough worked with Stephen 'tWitch' Boss when he was the guest judge on World of Dance. tWitch died by suicide on Tuesday, December 14, 2022.
“I just want to express and just to say for anybody out there who is feeling these thoughts and these feelings, please, please I beg you — I beg you, give people an opportunity to be there for you," Hough added. “I know it feels like when you're in that dark hole that it will just not get better, and I'm telling you right now, I promise you it does. It does get better.”
He continued, “So if you have those thoughts, if you have those feelings, just know that you're not alone. And when I say that you're not alone, I'm saying that people are feeling those feelings right now. They're having those thoughts, those anxieties right now and that you are not alone. We were not meant to do this alone… We're not meant to figure this all out by ourselves. We're meant to figure this out together.”
