"It's not only a message from him, but it's a message to continue loving myself"
Ricki Lake is remembering her late husband Christian Evans with a new piece of ink.
While appearing on Wednesday's episode of "Good Morning Britain," the 54-year-old "Hairspray" actress revealed a new tattoo she got on her left forearm in tribute to Evans.
Back in 2017, Evans died from suicide after struggling with bipolar disorder. The couple was married from 2012 to 2015 before his death.
"My beloved husband passed away from suicide and bipolar five and a half years ago," Lake began. "So this was his wedding vow to me that I found on the stationary after he died and it says, 'I vow to continue loving you.'"
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View StoryThe TV personality has remarried since Evans' death, and explained that the tattoo also served as a reminder to herself.
"It's not only a message from him, but it's a message to continue loving myself," Lake continued. "That relationship and that loss was definitely the darkest period of my life, but through it, so many gifts have come out of it. I'm now remarried and I'm very much in the happiest place I've ever been in my life."
The "Crybaby" star detailed the struggles of loving someone who suffered from bipolar disorder and admitted that she had been naïve about what it all entailed.
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View Story"I didn't even know what bipolar was. He told me when we met that he was diagnosed bipolar, and I was like, 'Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we all have our stuff. I'm a control freak, I know.' I didn't understand what a manic episode, what a psychotic break was until years later and it was the darkest days of my life, but I learned so much," she said.
Lake later married Ross Burningham earlier this year in January. In an interview with The New York Times, she confessed that she believes her late husband was the reason she found love again.
"When he passed over, he started taking care of me. He wanted me to find love -- I believe Ross is the man Christian wishes he could have been for me," she said.