Ellen DeGeneres Pays Tribute to Stephen 'tWitch' Boss on First Anniversary of His Death

On Wednesday, The Ellen DeGeneres Show alum shared an emotional video to Instagram, in which she paid tribute to tWitch, and recalled fond memories of the late dancer, including one of the last trips they took together.

tWitch passed away at the age of 40 on December 13, 2022, after tragically losing his life to suicide.

"On the one-year anniversary of tWitch no longer being with us, I thought that I would share a couple of memories that I have, that I had. Well, first of all, I mean there's so many memories that I have of tWitch," Ellen said of tWitch, who appeared on her daily talk show as a DJ from 2014 until it ended in May 2022.

"I loved that every single day after the show, we would sing and dance to some song, and then we would make each other laugh somehow," she continued. "And then we would walk off arm in arm and walk to my dressing room, which was the first one we got to. And I would say, 'I love you,' and he would say, 'Love you much.' And then he would walk off to his. And every single day, that's how we ended the show in arm in arm. I miss that."

The talk show host went on to reflect on a "fun" trip she went on to see Silk Sonic in Las Vegas with tWitch, which marked one of their final trips together.

"We went to Vegas, one of the last trips we did. We used to do these fun trips with the show," Ellen shared. "We went to Vegas together and we saw Silk Sonic, and we both were huge fans. ... That was really fun, singing to each other, and just being in Vegas together was really fun."

She then recalled a "hilarious" trip she went on with tWitch and Ellen producer, Andy Lassner.

"One of the funniest things that I think that we did with Andy, so we went to Miraval with Andy ... and it was hilarious," Ellen said as footage from the trip played in the video. "I mean, it was just the three of us together was so much fun. And then tWitch climbed that pole and stood on that pole, which was incredible because he was so scared to do that. And when he got on that pole that high up and stood, and then Andy had to join him, that was one of the most fun shoots that we have ever done. And one of the last trips that we took."

As the video continued, the 65-year-old opened up about tWitch's tragic passing and silent struggle with his mental health, noting that his death is a "reminder" that you never know what people are battling inside.

"His memory lives on. I love him so much. I miss him so much," Ellen said. "And it's a reminder every single day that you just don't know what people are going through."

"Because he was a happy guy, I thought, and I was really close to him. And he never shared that with me," she added. "So that is sad, that he didn't feel like he could find a way out and share that he was struggling. Because we all would have done anything we could to help him. I miss him every single day, but I have amazing memories of him."

The video concluded by presenting contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

Meanwhile, tWitch's mother, Connie Boss Alexander, also paid tribute to her late son on the anniversary of his passing, sharing a video montage of photos and videos of tWitch on Instagram.

"A year ago today..you sent your last I love you's, your final check-ins and closed your eyes in this earthly realm and awoke with all the ancestors in the presence of God," she captioned her post. "My first born, my first heartbeat, my Booboo (I can see that little smirk, yes I said it), my beautiful son, Stephen Laurel Boss, I miss you beyond words and love you through eternity."