Entertainment
Ricki Lake confirms engagement to boyfriend Ross Burningham after year of dating: ‘He is my person’
Ricki Lake is engaged to boyfriend Ross Burningham.
The talk show host and actress, 52, confirmed news she is set to wed on Instagram, as she gushed about her boyfriend of over a year to fans.
Alongside a selfie of the pair, X Factor: Celebrity star Ricki said she is ‘so grateful’ to be starting a new chapter with Ross, calling him ‘wonderful’ and ‘my person’.
She gushed: ‘Friends, I’m so so so excited to share some good news! I’m engaged! 💍 ♥️ This is Ross. He is my person. He is wonderful.
‘I love him very much and I am so grateful I get to love and be loved so deeply by this stellar human.’
Ricki continued: ‘Our next chapter is sure to be a good one. #heartopen #lifeisbeautiful #ibelieveinlove #thisis52 #selflove #nofilter #justhappy ♥️.’
Opening up to People magazine about her engagement, Ricki said she ‘pinches herself’ over the couple finding each other.
‘Ross and I literally pinch ourselves that we have found each other at this time in our lives, Both of us, newly empty-nesters, we feel as if we are kids again. We are filled with gratitude and joy for what is to come,’ she told the publication.
The star – who landed her first talk show Ricki Lake, that aired between 1993 and 2004, at 24 years old – was inundated with congratulatory messages.
Andy Cohen commented: ‘❤️RICKI❤️ YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
Dermot O’Leary posted: ‘Congrats Ricki, great news xx,’ while This Is Us star Chrissy Metz wrote: ‘Congratulations!!❤️🎉❤️.’
This will be Ricki’s third time down the aisle, as she has previously wed twice before.
She married first husband Rob Sussman in Las Vegas in 1994, after almost six months of dating. They share two children together; sons Milo, 23, and Owen, 19.
They split nearly a decade later in August 2003, with their divorce being finalised in February 2005.
Ricki then married for the second time and wed Christian Evans in April 2012, before divorcing three years later in 2015.
In 2017, Christian, who battled with bipolar disorder, died by suicide.
Ricki was seen remembering her late ex on Instagram earlier this month on the fourth anniversary of his death.
Alongside a series of pictures of Christian, including one of them together, Ricki wrote: ‘Today, February 11th marks 4 years since the world lost this beautiful soul. #christianevans continues to be my greatest teacher.
‘Through his #compassion and #kindness for others, especially those suffering with #mentalillness. Forever grateful for the #uncondtionallove we shared. #kindnessisking #neverforget #suicideprevention #bipolar #love #loveiseternal.’
Last year, Ricki was seen opening up about her own mental health journey due to her decade-long struggle with hair loss.
Ricki explained she first began experiencing hair loss when she played Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 version of Hairspray. In a candid post on social media, she shared: ‘It has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing, lonely, all the things. There have been a few times where I have even felt suicidal over it.
‘Almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing… I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.’
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