Stephen 'tWitch' Boss' Widow Allison Holker Addresses Ellen DeGeneres Rumors (Exclusive)

Allison Holker Addresses 'Rumors' About Ellen DeGeneres' Relationship with Stephen 'tWitch' Boss (Exclusive)

Holker — whose new memoir, 'This Far,' is out Feb. 4 — sets the record straight about her late husband's relationship with the talkshow host

Melody Chiu

Published on February 4, 2025 01:36PM EST

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Ellen DeGeneres, Stephen Laurel "tWitch" Boss — Ellen DeGeneres and Stephen 'tWitch' Boss. Photo:
Mike Rozman/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Allison Holker is setting the record straight.

After the death of her late husband, Stephen 'tWitch' Boss, rumors flew that he and Ellen DeGeneres had grown apart following the end of the Ellen DeGeneres show in May 2022.

In a recent cover interview with PEOPLE, Holker — whose new memoir, This Far (out Feb. 4), details her difficult childhood, love story with Boss and how she and her kids are healing after his death — shut down the speculation.

"I don't love when I see rumors flying around, and it was really disappointing for me to see that people tried bringing Ellen to the situation and targeting her," says Holker, 36.

"It was not true," she continues. "Ellen's wonderful, and she's just been a support system. If anything, she was a great example to Stephen. They had a great relationship, and he loved that relationship with her. They had something that was so special. I hope people can see that that bond is something that we shouldn't tear down."

Two months after Boss' death, DeGeneres — along with Derek Hough, Robin Antin, Loni Love and other So You Think You Can Dance and Ellen DeGeneres Show cast and crew — gathered to honor him at an emotional celebration of life service in Los Angeles.

Stephen "tWitch" Boss and Allison Holker pose in the IMDb Exclusive Portrait Studio at The Critics Choice Association 5th Annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television at Fairmont Century Plaza on December 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. — Stephen 'tWitch' Boss and Allison Holker in December 2022.
Michael Rowe/Getty

Guests in attendance were given "Move with Kindness" wristbands and invited to donate to the Move with Kindness Foundation, which Holker created to support mental health initiatives in Stephen's honor.

On the second anniversary of his death in December, DeGeneres, 67, paid tribute to Boss — who became a permanent fixture on her show after landing a gig as a guest DJ in 2014 before stepping into his co-executive producer role in 2020 — on Instagram.

"Wherever I am I feel you with me," DeGeneres captioned a stoic photo of a field lined with trees. "I love you tWitch."

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