Glee star Naya Rivera's ex, Ryan Dorsey, has spoken out after her younger sister Nickayla moved into his house.
Nickayla Rivera, 25, was forced to defend herself yesterday after trolls criticised her for living with her late sister's ex, accusing the pair of starting a romantic relationship in the wake of Naya's death.
Now, urging fans not to jump to conclusions, the 37-year-old actor said Naya's sister was there to help, at the request of her five-year-old nephew, Josey.
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You can watch the emotional video below:
Referring to Nickayla by her nickname, Titi, Ryan explains: "[Josey] asks me if Titi can live with us. He said, 'I want Titi to live with us forever,' because she's now the closest thing he has to a mom.
"You're going to need all the help you can get as a single parent trying to build your career and navigate this disaster with your child.
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"It's a temporary situation. After all that he's had to go through how could you deny him that? Because of what? What some strangers might think or say?"
Praising model Nickayla for standing by him during the tragedy, he added: "To have a young woman who is his blood, his Titi, who is willing to put her life on hold and sacrifice things, uproot her situation for the betterment of your child...
"So when you put your child to bed you don't always have to be alone with your thoughts and you don't have to be sad any day or night wondering when does it get better.
"At least you have someone there with you to talk to or just sit in silence and be sad with. You don't have to deal with being completely alone".
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During the emotional video, the actor also said: "I usually don't read comments on my own stuff because I know how there can be 50 good things said and five negative ones.
"Somehow as humans we get those five negative ones stuck in our heads wondering how people could say certain things.
"Ninety-nine per cent of strangers that don't even know this family. And I'll be honest, I probably read about 10 and that was enough to know that is why I don't read comments.
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"There's people making judgments, making assumptions and sending terrible messages wishing death upon strangers that they truly know next to zero about.
"It's really insane... but I'll just say a couple of things about that one.
"It's truly sad that this is the world we live in where people were raised to think it's OK to spew hatred in general, especially to make statements about a family who are dealing with a tragedy that I hope is so unimaginable that neither you or anyone that is close to you ever has to go through."
Ryan then added that he 'can't even imagine' how he would feel if his child did "this to some strangers on social media" or in real life, but added it was highly unlikely that Josey would ever behave in such a way.
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"I'm not really worried about that, because I know it would never happen, because he's a sweet, smart, caring soul of a young man who, at the age of five, is having to grow up so fast, without his mother," he went on.
Discussing how losing Naya and parenting their son alone was affecting him, Ryan added: "I have probably lost a little over 20lbs.
"I don't really get sleep, I am sad every day, I wake up, I go to sleep sad every night, I am staring at the ceiling.
"I am staring at the wall and I think how lucky I am to have my mum and to have her help out and be in my life still and I think about how he won't have that same opportunity in his future.
"It makes me beyond sad. I ask myself why and what did he do to deserve this. I know he didn't do anything to deserve this but the things people have said are sad."
TV star Naya was aged just 33 when she went missing on July 8th, after taking her son out on a hired pontoon boat on Lake Piru, just outside of Los Angeles.
Five days later, on the 13th July, Naya's body was discovered in the lake.
An autopsy report reveals the cause of the actress death was "drowning", and the manner of death an accident.
Reflecting on the time when Naya was missing, before her body was discovered and she was pronounced dead by drowning, Ryan said: "When five of the longest days of your life go by, when a young boy's mum is missing and you know the result of the search, you know what that result is going to be when it ends, and the conversation you are going to have with him it's sad.
"When a young boy says, 'do you think they are going to find her? I just want them to find her,' and you know that he's so smart and you know he witnessed a nightmare right before his eyes and he knows that even if they find her, she's not coming home...
"Then when you're with him every day during this, with his grandpas, and his grandmas, and his aunts and his uncles, and his whole family, and all you have is each other to lean on and to cry with, and you go through this nightmare. It's sad.
"The reality hits you and the grieving can start, but the sadness gets heavier because you know you're going to have to have conversation one on one with a little boy and tell him about our new reality."
He continued: "Saying this is sad is the understatement of my life. I hope none of you ever have to go through any of this. I hope nobody that you love has to go through any of this
"I have to tell him she's an angel now and she's with God and she's in heaven and he says "I wanna go there, how do I get there?" I wouldn't wish that upon any of your ears to hear any of those words come out of the sweetest soul I know.'
"And the funeral, trying to explain that to an innocent child, what a funeral is, way before they should ever have to think about it or deal with that..."
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/ @dorseyryanTopics: Celebrity News