Stephen 'tWitch' Boss was often "drained" by his "extroverted" public persona.
Stephen Boss' widow Allison Holker reveals 'tWitch' persona left him drained
The late DJ took his own life aged 40 in December 2022, and his widow Allison Holker has admitted there were two sides to the 'Ellen DeGeneres Show' star, which impacted his mental health as he found himself needing to "recharge his battery" after putting on a show for people.
Speaking to 'The Squeeze' podcast, she said: "So, Stephen. It's interesting. I knew him as Stephen. A lot of people knew him as 'tWitch.' Very two different humans.
"He wore this character of 'tWitch,' and it did become a part of who he was but that extroverted personality was not natural for him.
"So, when he would go out as 'tWitch' and make sure he's spreading all this love and joy and positivity and be dancing all the time for people - an entertainer, and such - it would drain his energy.
"And he would have to come home and he would always tell me ... our home was his safe place. So, he'd come home and have to really recharge his battery."
For Boss, recharging meant getting into "a darker space", while he also tried to find other ways to "help himself".
She explained: "When you're saying recharge your battery that also comes with the state of depression because you get really low.
"And you had to let him have that space to really kind of find himself in a darker space, let him live in that. He would always find his way out, though.
"So, a lot of the things that Stephen and I would talk about would be these tools in which he was really trying to help himself, like, 'I'm reading these self-help books. I'm listening to podcasts. I'm talking to friends. I'm trying to connect with people.'
"And so I always thought that though you're dealing with this low side of you that you don't let other people see, it seemed like he was really treating it."
Allison - who has chidlren Weslie, 16, Maddox, and Zaia, four, from her marriage to Boss - noted her dancer husband was always straightforward with her about his struggles, but she now accepts taht he might have needed another source of support.
She said: "At the end of the day, I think there was maybe extra help he needed that I was unaware of at the time - talking to a therapist, maybe some medication as well.
"But I was unaware. I think he also was, 'cause I think he also thought he was taking care of it because he'd be like, 'I'm low. Give me some time to build it back up.'"
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