Stephen “tWitch” Boss, choreographer, DJ, and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” co-host, has died. He was 40.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, Boss committed suicide in a motel on Tuesday.
On DeGeneres’ long-running syndication daytime talk programme, Boss was known as “tWitch” until becoming a permanent presence and ultimately being dubbed the show’s founder producer in 2020. (“Ellen’s” 19-year reign ended in May.)
His wife, artist Allison Holker, told People magazine about his death.
“It is with heavy hearts that I inform you that my husband Stephen has left us,” she stated. “Stephen brightened every place he entered. Above all, he treasured family, friends, and community, and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was our family’s rock, the finest husband and father, and an example to his admirers.”
‘I’m sad,’ Ellen DeGeneres says of Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss’ death:
“To say he left a legacy would be an exaggeration, and his good effect will be remembered for a long time,” she said. “I am confident that there will never be a day when we do not remember him. We need privacy at this tough time for myself and our three children.”
“Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you,” she said at the end of her tribute.
The Montgomery, Alabama, native, who began dancing at the age of 16, finished second on the fourth season of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2008. He originally drew DeGeneres’ interest in 2010, when he was a member of the cast of “Dance” and collaborated on a performance with DeGeneres, a time DeGeneres described as “a crash course in getting to know each other.”
Boss was welcomed on “Ellen” in 2013 as a guest DJ before becoming a programme mainstay the following year. He pumped up the studio audience with his distinctive dancing routine, which began each edition of the show.
