reporter: as recently as sunday, twitch was dancing with his wife, alison holker, in front of their christmas tree. they had just posted celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary. friends and fans stunned by the news he took his own life tuesday. he was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father and an inspiration to his fans, holker said. to say he left a legacy would be an understatement. his death adding to a devastating trend. suicide rates up nationally the will last two decades. the highest spike in recent years among black americans. one of the things that we will here in the black community is this pride in not looking like what i m going through. so folks don t know when they are struggling. reporter: in may, twitch was over come talking about his time on the ellen show. she gave me a place where i could be myself. when we say good-bye after the show we both say, love you. he says, love you much, and i say, love you.
time there on today. it was so emotional. and what was crazy though, you know, it was a lot of the little things that started to really get me. not even the big moments. as recently as sunday, twitch was dancing with his wife in front of their christmas tree. they just posted celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary. friends and fans stunned by the news he took his own life tuesday. he was the backbone of our family. the best husband and father and inspiration to his fans. to say he left a legacy would be an understatement. his death adding to a devastating trend, suicide rates up nationally over the last two decades. the highest spike in recent years among black americans. one thing that we will hear oftentimes in the black community is just this pride in not looking like what i m going through. so the folks don t know when they re actually struggling. back in may, twitch was overcome talking about his time on the ellen show.
57 past the hour. millions of condolences are pouring in for twitch. he died by decide yesterday at the age of 40. kate snow as more. reporter: he was a regular on the ellen show for years. i met someone who changed my life. reporter: stephen twitch boss, twitch, was the deejay, but more. ellen s favorite dancer and partner, eventually executive producer. when the show was ending back in may, twitch reflected on his time there on today. it was so emotional. what was crazy, though, it was a lot of the little things that really started to get me. not even the big moments. reporter: as recently as sunday, twitch was dancing with his wife, in front of their christmas tree. they just posted celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary. friends and fans stunned by the news he took his own life tuesday. he was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father and an inspiration to his
their 9th wedding anniversary. friends and fans stunned by the news he took his own life tuesday. he was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father and an inspiration to his fans. to say he left a legacy would be an understatement. his death adding to a devastating trend. suicide rates up nationally over the last two decades, the highest spike in recent years among black americans. one of the things that we will hear oftentimes in the black community is just this pride in not looking like what i m going through. so folks don t know when they re struggling. in may, twitch was overcome talking about his time on the ellen show. a place where i can just be myself. when we say good-bye after the show, we both say love you, love you much, and i say love you, and so he s never going to be out of my life. ellen writing, i m heartbroken, twitch was pure love and light. to many following along on