Two months after Naya Rivera’s tragic passing, reports came out that his former sister-in-law and Naya’s younger sister, Nickayla, has recently moved in with Naya’s ex-husband Ryan Dorsey and his son Josey, whom he shared with Naya.
Earlier this week, The Daily Mail published photos of Nickayla and Ryan moving in furniture and belongings into a new rental home in Los Angeles, California – an unconventional move that raised eyebrows.
But Ryan is shutting down the rumors swirling around his family.
The 37-year-old actor went on Instagram on Tuesday (September 29) and opened up about how he and Josey have been holding up following Naya’s death in a video.
He talked about how his five-year-old son has had to “grow up so fast” and “without his mother.” His son has also been asking where his mom is – and he had to explain that Naya is “an angel now and she’s with God. She’s in heaven.”
“And he goes, ‘Well, I want to go there. How do I get there?’” Ryan continued.
He added that he hopes a parent would never have to hear their child say that or have to explain what a funeral for their parent is “way before they should have to think about it.”
He reflects that he’s ″lucky″ to ″have family on both sides who support and who have helped out tremendously″ during this difficult time and also addressed why he and Nickayla are now living together.
“Then he [Josey] asked me if TiTi can live with us. ‘I want TiTi to live with us, forever.’ Because she’s now the closest thing that he has to a mom,” he went on. “Because 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. You deal with it every hour of every day for 80-plus days now.”
″And to have a young woman who is his blood and TiTí, 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,″ he continued.
″You don’t have to be sad every day and night, wondering when does it get better,″ Ryan said. ″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 it completely alone.″
“I wasn’t even going to speak on any of this, I feel like my head is full with so many things that the last thing I need running through my mind is this bulls–t,” he went on.
Saying that he doesn’t care what people think about the situation, because it’s “2020 and this is life. 2020, what a sh–ty, f–king year.”
Nickayla also seemingly addressed the reports on Instagram Story earlier this week.
“In the darkest time of my life, the only thing that is important is my friends and family,” she writes. “Showing up for my nephew, even though I can’t show up for myself.”
“Im not concerned with the way things look because no one can see each agonizing moment we all endure,” she continued.
“What matters most I’ve learned, is to show compassion, not to judge others, and never take a moment of life for granted,” she went on, concluding, “I hope you all can do the same.”
Sources say that Nickayla has always been a huge part of Josey’s life – she would often help Naya take care of him. She also stepped up to help care for him after Naya was reported missing during a boat ride with Josey in Lake Piru in Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California in July.
Naya’s body was recovered on July 13 – five days after she first went missing. And Ryan
“Since the devastating loss of Naya, Ryan’s role in parenting has of course been amped up,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “He’s the primary caregiver, but has been relying very heavily on Nickayla. He would not be able to do this without her help and involvement.”
