HGTV's Allison Holker Was Never The Same After Her Husband's Death

Allison Holker is best known as a professional dancer who has appeared on shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" and contributed to some of the greatest "Dancing with the Stars" transformations ever. She also served as the host for the HGTV show "Design Star: Next Gen." Some people may not know that Holker's world got flipped upside down in December 2022. It was during this time that she lost her husband, Stephen Boss. Ellen DeGeneres' longtime sidekick was professionally known as "tWitch" and died by suicide just two weeks before Christmas, leaving behind his wife and their two young children (Holker also has an older daughter from a previous relationship).

"It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us. Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him," Holker told People magazine in a statement. "He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans. To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt. I am certain there won't be a day that goes by that we won't honor his memory," she added before asking the public for privacy. In the time since, Holker's life has been completely changed and she hasn't ever been quite the same.

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Raising children on your own can be challenging, but that is a reality Allison Holker found herself facing in 2022. Holker was a mom to daughter Weslie Fowler before she started dating Stephen "tWitch" Boss in 2010. The two developed a special bond over the years, and Boss loved Fowler as if she was his own. In 2013, Holker and Boss tied the knot in Paso Robles, California, and he officially became a stepdad. Three years later, Holker and Boss welcomed their son, Maddox Boss. Their daughter Zaia Boss completed their family in 2019. Following tWitch's tragic death in 2022, Holker was forced to adapt to a new role: Single mom. 

As part of her healing process, Holker focused on raising her children. "My loves we are stronger than you could ever imagine. And we will stand strong together as a unit, and find the courage to hold each other up. I will be here for you every step of the way through the highs and lows, the ups and the downs. I will protect and I will guide, I will be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, I will have mom jokes ready for when you need a good laugh. The love and light inside our hearts will still shine. I love you forever and always," she captioned an Instagram post in March 2023, just three months after Boss' death.

Allison Holker will never see Father's Day the same way again after the devastating death of Stephen 'tWitch' Boss. Like many moms, Holker may have planned something special for her husband and their kids on Father's Day, but things have drastically changed for the family since his death. In recent years, Holker has brought her kids to the cemetery to spend time reminiscing about tWitch. "It's gonna be a hard day for so many different kinds of emotions between me and my kids," Holker told Us Weekly ahead of Father's Day 2024. "We're planning on going to his gravestone to celebrate him, have a little picnic, dance with him a little bit, listen to some music, and just talk about some good times that we've been able to share and how grateful that we were to have those amazing times with him," she added.

Holker has always been one to post something praising her husband for being a great dad to their kids; her social media posts about Stephen "tWitch" Boss just hit different now.  "We love you Stephen forever and always," Holker captioned a black and white family photo on Instagram in June 2023. The post received over 800,000 likes and many fans chimed in to express their love for tWitch and sadness about his death. 

It's no secret that Allison Holker and Stephen "tWitch" Boss bonded over dance. Few "So You Think You Can Dance" or "Dancing with The Stars" couples are still together, but their mutual love of dance was a big factor in keeping Holker and tWitch's relationship going strong. In fact, the two would often share videos of themselves doing fun choreography on social media. However, once tWitch died, Holker lost her desire to dance. "Dancing with him was so special," Holker told People magazine in May 2023. "I haven't danced yet. That's gonna be a big step for me, but I know that I'll get there. He's guiding me on this path," she added. 

Three months later, Holker shared a video of herself dancing alongside friend and fellow choreographer Brittany Perry-Russell. "Truly felt so good to dance again. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions. I was both scared and excited. But dance has always been there for me... even now and I am so grateful for that. And thank you [Brittany] for making it so fun and making me feel safe," Holker captioned an Instagram video in August 2023. Holker was all smiles in the video and appeared to really enjoy getting her groove back. Fans loved the video, too, as emotional as it was. Of course, it also didn't go unnoticed that tWitch was missing. "Not seeing twitch in ur videos, it really hurts," one fan comment read.

Allison Holker tapped into some feelings that some people never experience in their lifetimes. Not only did she experience a different kind of grief, but she learned to be more open and vulnerable, especially with her kids. "I want my kids to feel so safe and comfortable with me that no matter what they're feeling, no matter how scary it is," Holker told People magazine in May 2024. "We just try to make sure that we have open dialogue. And I think that really stems from me starting those kinds of conversations and honestly me just being vulnerable around them and exposing a little bit more of what I'm feeling as an adult and not being scared to show that sometimes I am low, or sometimes I don't have an answer for something, or sometimes I need help," she explained.

Those conversations aren't always easy to have, but Holker was able to push through and tap into some of that sensitivity. She also found that communication and expressing oneself really are key parts of the healing process. When the time was right, Holker started writing a memoir, ready to share her story with the world. In another interview with People, Holker explained, "Writing this book was actually very therapeutic for myself, and I didn't know I needed it, but I did." "This Far" is scheduled to hit shelves on February 4, 2025.

We'd love to step inside lavish celeb homes, but Allison Holker's home with Stephen "tWitch" Boss was an undoubtedly sad place after his death. When Holker purchased a home with tWitch, she never dreamed of selling it due to such heartbreaking circumstances. Of course, no one could have predicted what happened in the years that followed. Holker and Boss purchased the Encino, California, property in 2019 and spent some time renovating it to make it their own. "I wanted to make sure we could find this balance of beauty, but functionality for my children, and just a warm and inviting feel," Holker told People magazine in 2021. 

After Boss died in late 2022, Holker knew that she couldn't stay in the home they once shared. Less than one year after Boss' death, the "So You Think You Can Dance" judge unloaded the home, originally listing it for $3.8 million and selling it for $3.5 million, per TMZ. Holker and her kids moved into a new home prior to the sale. "It's got such great energy about it and everyone just feels like they can breathe here. It's beautiful, it feels like us and a new us, a new version of who we are," Holker told People magazine of the new abode. The transition went fairly smoothly. "Everyone's been moved in and very happy about it," Holker said.

No one really knew how quickly Allison Holker would feel up to working again, but when she was offered a judging spot on Season 18 of "So You Think You Can Dance," she took it. The announcement was made nearly one year after Stephen Boss' death. The gig was bittersweet, of course, with Holker returning to the very show where she first met Stephen Boss back in Season 7. Nevertheless, she took the job and it really seemed to help her healing process. "I just feel like every single day, — [on the] show and not [on the] show — I just feel him putting wings on my back. I just feel so much support from him, and I'm really grateful for that because I think some people might see that kind of energy and be a little bit scared of it. But it's so beautiful and I feel like he protects me day in and day out," she told Us Weekly.

And while the return to "SYTYCD" was emotional, Holker looked at the opportunity with gratitude. "It feels like this show is the gift that keeps on giving to me. It seems to reach out to me and find me in moments that I didn't even know I needed it," she told Us Weekly, adding, "It gave me love, it gave me opportunity, it gave me career, it gave me friendships and it gave me kids, so the show has just been everything to me."

After Stephen Boss' death, Allison Holker posted quite a few tributes to him on her Instagram feed. As time went on, those posts became few and far between. Moreover, Holker seems to have gone through her feed and deleted some of the posts she had penned about her late husband. For example, in December 2023, Holker penned a tribute to Boss in honor of their wedding anniversary. "We honor love by finding peace and gratitude in the memories of the ones that have transformed our souls forever," Allison, 35, wrote. "On our anniversary I find myself in a space of tranquility embracing so many beautiful moments felt and experienced. With my whole heart I celebrate our love," she wrote, according to People magazine. That post has since been deleted.

Additionally, the initial posts that Holker wrote in memory of tWitch are also missing from her feed. From December 8, 2022, through March 3, 2023, there aren't any posts on Holker's Instagram page. However, that space was once filled with tributes to Boss, including one in which Holker wrote, "We will forever remember you as the true beacon of light that you were and we will continue to cast your light and love throughout the world. Thank you for our incredible memories and our beautiful life shared together," according to ET.

Coping with the loss of a loved one can be incredibly challenging and the range of emotions a person feels can be overwhelming. Allison Holker has certainly experienced every emotion imaginable, but she found ways to grieve that helped her through the healing process. Aside from focusing on her children, Holker also had conversations with Stephen Boss, admitted that she felt his presence with her after he was gone. "I was talking to him really actively. I talked to him almost every single night, a really long time. It would be about anything and everything. It could be how was the day today? ...Or I would be really upset and yelling at him sometimes," she told People magazine in January 2024. In the same interview, Holker revealed that she's forgiven Boss, which truly helped her move forward after his death.

Holker has taken the tragedy to inspire some great things, including the Move with Kindness Foundation, which she created in 2023. In another interview with People magazine, Holker said that she wanted to create an organization in her late husband's memory as a way to spread love and mental health awareness. She explained it as her life's purpose, just altered a bit. "I want people to feel safe talking to me and to open up and understand that we have to support each other in these moments," she told the outlet. 

After getting married, Allison Holker never thought she'd ever have to date again. When Stephen Boss died, finding love again was the furthest thing from Holker's mind. Many famous women have been candid about taking a break from dating for various reasons, and Holker was more than justified in taking herself off the market. However, as time went on, she realized that she wanted to welcome romantic love back into her life — and she wanted to be open to that opportunity. "I still find that the world is such a beautiful place and there's so much to be experienced. So to what kind of capacity? What that looks like? I don't know. But I'm definitely not shying away from it. It's just, life to me is life, and I just think it's here to be experienced," Holker said on the January 18, 2024, episode of The Viall Files podcast.

Holker wasn't in any kind of rush to find herself a boyfriend, but she did learn a lot about herself over the past two years. "I've changed a lot," she told People magazine in June 2024. "I still would want to have love, would still want to travel the world. I still want to see and experience new things with new people, new energy, my friends, my family, a loved one — a potential — and my kids," she added. It appears Holker has gradually adopted a more positive outlook in the years since tWitch's death. 

In August 2024, Allison Holker took to Instagram to share a photo of two shadows holding hands. Her decision to soft launch her new relationship seemed to be a cautious step, and the support that she received was simply overwhelming. A couple of weeks later, she was back on Instagram to let her fans know that she'd met a "bad influence" who got her to "eat McDonald's for the first time in 15 years." Two days later, Holker walked the red carpet alongside Adam Edmunds at the alice + olivia's Spring 2025 collection show, officially hard launching her relationship. 

It wasn't until November 2024, however, that Holker and Edmunds went Instagram official. He accompanied Holker to the "Dancing with the Stars" studio for a night of ballroom dancing and fun. "Showing [Adam] my world was perfect thank you for being at my side and being my anchor. I couldn't be more happy and excited for this next chapter," she captioned an Instagram post. And while Holker may have never seen this trajectory of life coming, she's proven that it's okay if things are never the same again.