The actor mentioned that the news of her death "was really, really rough" on him.
Nearly a year after Glee actor Naya Rivera drowned, her ex Tahj Mowry paid tribute to her during an interview with Glamour, calling Rivera his "first celebrity crush."
According to PEOPLE, Mowry and Rivera worked together in the sitcom Smart Guy. They dated between 2000 to 2004, and the news of her death "was really, really rough" on him.
"I have so much respect for her family," he said.
"I still am in communication with them, so I just want to make sure I'm respectful of that and what her family is going through. She was definitely my first everything. I think subconsciously it's why I never really date like that because no one really ever... I know someday someone might, but it's hard to measure up to the type of girl and woman she was."
Though it's usually said that time heals all wounds, Mowry finds it hard to even talk about the late actor. "It's a hard thing to talk about, because to think about her mother and her ex-husband, her child and her sister and her brother…the height of what they went through is times a thousand," he said.
"I almost feel like I can't even talk about my feelings because they don't even measure up to the pain that they went through and are still going through. But yes, much love to her entire family—her brother, her sister, her child, and her ex-husband as well."
Rivera, 33, and her son Josey, 5, had reportedly rented a pontoon boat on Lake Piru near Los Angeles on July 8, 2020. According to Guardian, her son was found sleeping and alone on the drifting boat later that afternoon. Five days later, her body was found floating in a 30ft-deep area of the lake. It was confirmed that she died of accidental drowning.
Rivera's dad, George Rivera, sat down for an interview with Entertainment Tonight, ahead of his first Father's Day without his daughter. George revealed that Josey asks about his mom frequently, and gave credit to Josey's father, Ryan Dorsey, and Naya's younger sister, Nickayla Rivera, for helping the young boy through it.
"Nickayla and Ryan are doing a really great job," he says. "Tough situation, especially because he was there—it's not like you're talking about a ghost that's floating around, right? He's got memories as well, but boy is he coming around, right? Really strong kid."
"We handle him and we talk to him just like he's a 5-year-old going on six," he continues. "It's no different but when he wants to talk about his mother, we talk about his mother, in conversation. He's growing up and handling it really well."
Authorities believe that Rivera's last act of love was when she pushed her son back to the boat after jumping into the lake for a swim. As per CNN, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said, "She mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself."
When asked what that final heroic act says about his daughter, George shares, "Sort of the same mantra she used for life, you know, preservation, keep going, when things are hard you keep pushing. It just shows you the strength of the person."
References:
https://www.glamour.com/story/tahj-mowry-interview
https://people.com/tv/tahj-mowry-pays-tribute-to-ex-naya-rivera-she-was-my-first-everything/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/19/naya-rivera-drowning-wrongful-death-lawsuit-filed-on-behalf-of-glee-actors-son
https://www.etonline.com/naya-riveras-dad-opens-up-about-how-her-son-josey-is-doing-in-emotional-sit-down-interview
Cover Image Source: Getty Images/(L) Photo by Jon Kopaloff / (R) Photo by Frederick M. Brown
