NEARLY FIVE YEARS AFTER GLEE STAR NAYA RIVERA'S DEATH, HER EX SPEAKS OUT Our Son Gives Me Reason to Live

ACTOR RYAN DORSEY LIFTS THE CURTAIN ON HIS LIFE WITH JOSEY AFTER THEIR DEVASTATING LOSS

- BRIANNE TRACY

This summer will mark five years since Glee star Naya Rivera's shocking drowning death, but for her ex-husband, actor Ryan Dorsey, reminders are everywhere. "I'm here in L.A. working at Warner Bros., and Forest Lawn Cemetery [where she's buried] is on the other side," says Dorsey, 41. "So many songs make me think about her, like Amy Winehouse's 'Valerie,' which she sang on Glee."

There's also the fact that Dorsey's son with Rivera, Josey, now 9, resembles his mom and has her personality to match. "He's definitely his mama's son, because when he doesn't get the answer he wants, he keeps talking," Dorsey says with a grin. As Josey poses with his dad during their People photo shoot, he comfortably strikes up conversation with the adults around him, cracking jokes and excitedly describing his favorite video games. "He doesn't know a stranger," Dorsey says. "He is such a happy kid."

Josey's resilience isn't lost on his dad or anyone familiar with their story: Josey was only 4 when he watched his mom drown at 33 on July 8, 2020, while they were swimming off a rental boat in Lake Piru in Ventura County, Calif. "I treat him differently than I would a normal kid because of what he's been through," Dorsey admits. "I don't know if that's a bad way to go about raising him, but it is the cards we were dealt." While Dorsey has largely remained quiet in the years since losing Rivera-still beloved among fans for her role as outspoken cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee from 2009 to 2015-he finally feels ready to talk about the tragic events and what his and Josey's lives have looked like since.