When news of Stephen "tWitch" Boss's sudden death broke, his wife,
Allison Holker, released a touching statement,
calling him "the backbone of our family." Here is what their relationship was really like.
Until his tragic death in 2022, Stephen "tWitch" Boss and Allison Holker were a match made in
dance heaven. The couple shared two children, and Boss also adopted Holker's daughter from
a previous relationship. Their romance traced back to the seventh season of So You Think You
Can Dance in 2010, but they knew each other even longer than that. Boss and Holker actually met
during the second season of the show in 2006. Holker told Dance Spirit in 2012 that there
were many missed opportunities between them before they finally started dating in 2010:
Holker shared that the two finally figured things out at a wrap party for the show's
seventh season. It wasn't easy for them, though, as an interracial couple. For Loving Day in 2020,
Boss shared a wedding photo on Instagram alongside one of Mildred Jeter and Richard
Loving, the interracial couple involved in the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case,
which struck down the ban on interracial marriages. In Boss's message,
he wrote that like Jeter and Loving, he wanted his and Holker's love to be:
Holker and Boss had strong dance backgrounds when they started on So You Think You Can
Dance. Holker competed in season two and Boss in season four. After coming back to
the show in season seven as All-Stars, their careers essentially took off.
Post-So You Think You Can Dance, Boss went on to be a DJ on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
He also signed on for Ellen's Game of Games in 2017. Holker had roles in the
High School Musical movies, taught dance classes across the country,
and was a professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars.
"We're lovers but first and foremost he wants me to be whatever version of
me I want to be. And I've always thought that was really special."
The lovebirds also hosted Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings and posted tons of dance videos on
social media. They even included their kids in their videos and pictures. And while
their children are still young, the couple educated them on equality and anti-racism,
as it was a cause close to their hearts. Holker told Entertainment Tonight in June 2020,
On December 11, 2022, just two days before her husband's death, Holker shared a series
of pictures on Instagram of her and Boss on their wedding day. The following day,
Holker shared a video of her and Boss dancing to an upbeat Christmas song.
On December 14, 2022, the world was shocked to learn that Boss had died by apparent suicide.
TMZ reported that Holker went to an LAPD station distraught because Boss had left without his car,
which was unusual for him. Shortly thereafter, paramedics were called to a hotel in Los Angeles,
where Boss was found dead. Holker confirmed his death in
a heartbreaking statement to People, which read:
She went on to say that she will always honor his memory and concluded with: