NEWSRicki Lake Went to 'Great Lengths' to Save Late Ex-Husband From 'Psychotic Breaks' Before His Suicide: 'It Was Really Challenging'
Ricki Lake reflected on trying to help her late ex-husband, Christian Evans, before his 2017 suicide.
Ricki Lake is honoring the memory of her late ex-husband, Christian Evans.
While speaking with death doula Alua Arthur at End Well’s annual symposium on Friday, November 22, the former talk show host, 56, opened up about trying to save the jewelry designer — who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder — before he died by suicide in 2017 at the age of 45.
Ricki Lake honored the memory of her late ex-husband, Christian Evans.
"I didn’t understand what bipolar disorder meant at first," Lake, who was married to Evans from 2012 until 2014, admitted. "I know he suffered from depression and had a lot of pain. We were together four years before he had his first psychotic break. It was almost more shocking seeing him turn into another person than his ultimate death."
"I went to great lengths to save him; I did everything I could in my power to bring him to the doctor to get him help, and it was really challenging," she explained. "He had his second psychotic break two years after the first and ultimately took his life in [February] of 2017."
Christian Evans died by suicide in 2017 at the age of 45.
Although their story ended in tragedy, the Hairspray actress emphasized how deeply she and Evans, whom she first met in 2010, cared about each other. "He was super magical, and he was madly in love with me and I with him," Lake made clear.
The Cry Baby alum admitted she struggled for a long time with feeling like she failed her former partner. "I’m a manifester, I get s--- done,” she said. “And when it came to fixing him, I couldn’t fix him, I couldn’t save him.”
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Ricki Lake and Christian Evans were married from 2012 until 2014.
Lake is now remarried to Ross Burningham, but she knows how her journey with Evans impacted her present-day happiness. "What I can say is through loving and losing him, I’m the best version of myself because of the way he loved me," she noted.
"I feel like I’ve learned so many lessons, so much about I love, and how we’re still connected and that they’re not gone," Lake continued. "But he had to leave for me to have this beautiful, abundant life that I appreciate every day. I wake up in gratitude and am so appreciative of this life I had with him and now without him."
Ricki Lake married Ross Burningham in 2022.
People obtained the quotes from Lake's appearance at End Well’s annual symposium.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
