Naya Rivera: Who is Glee star feared dead in lake accident?

Most people remember her as the popular cheerleader on Glee but some might not know of Naya Rivera’s rocky past.

The 33-year-old, one of the original stars of the hit show, was arrested in 2017 after allegedly hitting her actor husband Ryan Dorsey.

Police were called to the couple’s home after Dorsey claimed that Rivera hit him in the head and lip while they were taking their son for a walk.

He reportedly provided mobile phone footage of the incident to police.

Rivera was arrested for misdemeanour domestic battery

Hours after the alleged incident, her emotional court appearance was caught on camera for the world to see.
 

Naya will be arraigned any minute #wsaz pic.twitter.com/vHjvliqJoB

— Jatara McGee WLWT (@jatara_) November 26, 2017

The charges against her were quickly dropped.

Rivera filed for divorce in December that year, which was finalised in June 2018.

GLEE STAR FEARED DEAD

Rivera is missing, feared dead after her young son Josey Hollis Dorsey was found floating alone in a boat on a Southern California lake.

He was found sleeping adrift by himself by another boater on Lake Piru, shortly before 5pm, on a boat which Rivera had rented about three hours earlier.

Josey reportedly told investigators that he and his mother were swimming, but she never got back into the boat.

READ MORE: Shocking curse that’s rocked Glee

WHO IS NAYA RIVERA?

Rivera played Santana Lopez, co-captain of the Cheerios and a member of William McKinley High School’s Glee Club in the hit musical TV show.

Her character Santana was outed as a lesbian in season three and had been struggling with accepting her sexuality before that.

She starred on the show from 2009–2015.

In 2013 Rivera released a single called Sorry, featuring rapper Big Sean.

Rivera married Dorsey after her engagement to Big Sean fell apart.

In 2016, she published a memoir called Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up which revealed real-life feuds and scandals.

READ MORE: Creepy detail in Glee we all missed

ON SET RELATIONSHIPS

Rivera briefly dated Mark Salling, a co-star who was arrested for porn charges in 2015 and died in 2018.

An ex-girlfriend tipped off authorities, who discovered more than 50,000 explicit photos and videos of children on his laptop and another 4000 on a flash drive.

Salling was facing up to 20 years behind bars, but after taking a plea deal, was looking at spending four to seven years in jail.

He took his own life only weeks before he was due to be sentenced.
 

Rivera opened up about his child porn charges in her book.

“My son’s nanny actually told me about it when the story broke,” she said.

“I can’t say I was totally shocked, but still – WTF? Then I had no doubt that God really did have my back along the way.

“When Mark dumped me, I thought it was the worst thing ever, but can you imagine if that didn’t happen? And I was laying there in bed when the battering ram came through the door?”

In her book she also revealed that she had an abortion while starring in the show and spoke of her very close, brother-and-sister-esque relationship with Corey Monteith who died in 2013.

POST-GLEE LIFE

Most recently, Rivera starred as Collette Jones on YouTube premium’s Step Up: High Water, a spin-off of the Step Up franchise.

She also guest-starred on Devious Maids and American Dad! and was a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2017.

Rivera welcomed a her son with Dorsey in September 2015 and the two share joint custody.

Last year she reflected on the 10-year anniversary of the show’s premiere with a lengthy post on Instagram, saying she was “so blessed” to have been a part of it.