Actor Ryan Dorsey, the ex-husband of the late actress Naya Rivera, is speaking out about Rivera’s death, keeping her memory alive and raising their son Josey.
Dorsey opened up to "Good Morning Americas's" Matt Gutman in an interview airing Wednesday morning, nearly five years after her death.
"It was very surreal, it didn’t make sense," Dorsey told "Good Morning America," recounting July 8, 2020, when he received a call that his ex-wife went missing in Southern California’s Lake Piru while their son Josey, then 4, was on the boat.
Rivera had been on a boat outing with their son. After Rivera failed to return the boat, personnel on the dock discovered the child, wearing a life jacket, asleep in the vessel, officials said.
"I just remember him saying Josey's OK but they can’t find her, and immediately I knew what that meant. I was hopeful, in a way, but once they said they had a helicopter looking I knew that was not a good sign," he said.
'Glee' star Naya Rivera died in an accidental drowning, medical examiner says"You just immediately go into panic mode and you know you have to get in the car and get your son," said Dorsey.
"The only thing you can do is cry, and I called my parents…and then I drove 110 miles per hour all the way to Santa Clarita," he said, adding,"It was awful."
Rivera’s body was not discovered until five days later, on July 13, 2020.
"It was five days of just more stress that you can’t even imagine," he said and added,"I don’t have any enemies, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone."
The actor discussed the thought of what would have been had he been with Rivera and Josey on the boat.
"I would have probably done the same thing. We would’ve all jumped in. Part of me thinks I would've been able to save the day," he said. "Part of me thinks that maybe we both, if something crazy happened with undercurrents, I don't know, maybe we both wouldn’t have made it out. And then Josey doesn't have two parents."
Dorsey discussed the different ways that Rivera continues to live on in his and Josey's memory.
"I’m grateful that he has memories of his mom still," said Dorsey. "And luckily, his mother was on television, so she’s gonna live [on] forever."
Dorsey said Josey, now 9, is also taking piano lessons as a tribute to Rivera, who Dorsey said regretted not continuing her piano lessons.
"I said, 'Your mom would definitely have you playing,' and I said, 'She’s always watching you,'" Dorsey said.
The interview comes after Dorsey spoke with People, detailing the effect that the day had on Josey, who was with his mother when she drowned.
"Something he's said over and over is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it," Dorsey told the outlet. "I keep reassuring him, 'Buddy, that rope wasn't going to be long enough.'"
Dorsey recently remembered Rivera on her birthday on Jan. 12, sharing a poem he wrote to his ex-wife and mother of his child.
"Happy Heavenly Birthday," Dorsey wrote in his post. "As the time goes by, I'm often alone and sit and think. I think more of our better times, Like this picture from the past, but it still f------ stings," he wrote in the post which included a photo of the couple.
