Kevin McHale believes Cory Monteith helped find Naya Rivera

14 July 2020

Kevin McHale believes his late 'Glee' co-star Cory Monteith helped find Naya Rivera on the anniversary of his death.

Kevin McHale

The body of the late actress was found on Monday (13.07.20), seven years to the day Cory tragically died aged 31, after she was presumed dead when she went missing during a boating trip to Lake Piru, California with her four-year-old son Josey.

And their co-star on the hit musical TV series has admitted he's convinced Cory helped guide the search to Naya as they were practically the same person in nature.

Responding to a video a fan had posted of Naya and Cory greeting fans after a live 'Glee' show, he wrote on Twitter: "I'm not religious by any means, but you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that Cory didn't help find our girl today. These 2, in many ways, were the male and female versions of one another. So nice, cared deeply, were stupidly talented, the most fun, and really really good people."

The 32-year-old star - who played Artie Abrams on the Fox comedy-drama - also took to Instagram to post a lengthy tribute to Naya, in which he revealed they were planning on "running away" to Hawaii amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Kevin described Naya as "independent and strong" and credits her with making him a "better person", whilst he admitted her tragic passing will "probably never make sense".

He concluded his post by stating how thankful he is that Naya managed to use all her energy to get her son back on the boat and he hopes her family will be given the space to grieve.

He wrote: "My Naya, my Snixxx, my Bee. I legitimately can not imagine this world without you.

7 years ago today, she and I were together in London when we found out about Cory. We were so far away, but I was so thankful that we had each other. A week ago today we were talking about running away to Hawaii. This doesn't make sense. And I know it probably never will.

"She was so independent and strong and the idea of her not being here is something I cannot comprehend. She was the single most quick-witted person I've ever met, with a steel-trap memory that could recall the most forgettable conversations from a decade ago verbatim. The amount of times she would memorize all of those crazy monologues on Glee the morning of and would never ever mess up during the scene... I mean, she was clearly more talented than the rest of us. She was the most talented person I've ever known. There is nothing she couldn't do and I'm furious we won't get to see more.

"I'm thankful for all the ways in which she made me a better person. She taught me how to advocate for myself and to speak up for the things and people that were important to me, always. I'm thankful for the times I grew an ab muscle from laughing so hard at something she said. I'm thankful she became like family. I'm thankful that my dad happened to have met her weeks before I did and when I got Glee, he told me to "look out for a girl named Naya because she seemed nice." Well dad, she was nice and she became one of my favorite people ever.

"If you were fortunate enough to have known her, you'll know that her most natural talent of all was being a mother. The way that she loved her boy, it was truly Naya at her most peaceful. I'm thankful that Naya got that beautiful little boy got back on that boat. I'm thankful he will have a strong family around him to protect him and tell him about his incredible mom.

"I just hope more than anything that her family is given the space and time to come to terms with this. For having such tiny body, Naya had such a gigantic presence, a void that will now be felt by all of us - those of us who knew her personally and the millions of you who loved her through your TVs. I love you, Bee. (sic)"