Naya Rivera's Ex-Husband Ryan Dorsey Shares His Grief For Not Answering Her Call On The Day of Her Death
Naya Rivera's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey is opening up about his grief, including how he missed her call the day she couldn't be found while taking their son swimming.
Dorsey spoke with PEOPLE in an interview published Wednesday, Feb. 12, where he admitted he's now "ready to talk about certain things."
"She called me early that morning. I didn't answer, I didn't call her back until later. But I knew if it was important she'd text — she had no problem sending me long texts about all the things. I didn't get a text so I went back to sleep," he described. He recalled how he was in Big Bear when he got an "odd" call from Rivera's mom Yolanda's husband to tell him that Rivera was missing but their son "Josey [was] OK."
"I instantly said, 'What do you mean? She knows how to swim,' " Dorsey said. "He said, 'They jumped in, and Josey got back on, and they're trying to find Naya.' I collapsed into a pallet of drinks in a Ralphs. [...] I didn't know what to think, I knew something bad had happened and I feared the worst."
He recalled how he "drove 100-and-something the whole way with my four-way hazards on, chain-smoking cigarettes — and I don't even smoke, really — and just crying. I just wanted to get to Josey." Josey Hollis was four years old at the time.
"If we'd have lost both Naya and Josey, I don't know how I would continue on with my life," the 41-year-old said. "I don't know what I would've done, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been good."
Naya Rivera died on July 8, 2020, after an accidental drowning. She was 33.
Divers searched for Rivera, who wasn't wearing a life jacket according to Fox-11, for five days.
"It was the worst five days of my life," Dorsey said. "There was a fear, what if we don't find her? It was just awful." Rivera's body was found in a remote part of Lake Piru on July 13.
Read more: Latino Comedian Ken Flores Dies at 28
"He [Josey] said that the last thing she said was his name, and then she went under, and he didn't see her anymore," Dorsey recounted through tears in his eyes to PEOPLE. "It just rocks my world that he had to witness her last moments."
Dorsey, who lost 40 pounds after the Glee actress' death, couldn't help but wonder how that day could have been different if he were there.
"I probably would have jumped in, and I like to think I would've saved the day. But on the other hand, I think maybe something bad could have happened to both of us. I don't know," Dorsey said.
Rivera and Dorsey tied the knot in July 2014 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but did not announce their nuptials until days later. In February 2015, Rivera announced that she and Dorsey were expecting their first baby together, Josey who was born on September 17, 2015. That following year, Rivera filed for divorce from Dorsey after two years of marriage, which was finalized on June 14, 2018.
Dorsey wished Rivera a happy heavenly birthday in an Instagram post on January 12.
"5 birthdays since you've been gone. Thoughts everyday about how it went wrong. The memories attached to places, Still see all the things, see all our faces. Visions of happiness and sadness, 15 years flash by when I hear a certain song. I shake my head often still in disbelief,They say time heals all, but all is not grief," he wrote in the heartfelt caption alongside a photo of the pair on a red carpet.
He added: "Doing the best I can for our JoJo Binx, As the time goes by, Im often alone and sit and think. I think more of our better times, Like this picture from the past, but it still fucking stings. So give Emmy and Lucy one good rub, And if you're reading this, Be kind to the one's you love, You'll never know when you give your last hug."
