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The last couple of years have not been easy for Allison Holker Boss.
From losing her husband and becoming a single mom to processing intense trauma from her youth, she’s been dealing with a lot, but thankfully, she seems to be on the path of healing.
Editor’s note: This article contains brief mentions of sexual assault, abuse, or other related topics that could be triggering for some readers and survivors. If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please visit RAINN.org. The National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) is available 24/7.
This article also contains mentions of suicide or suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, please visit findahelpline.com to connect with resources in your country.
In her newly released memoir This Far: My Story Of Love, Loss, And Embracing The Light, the Dancing With The Stars alum gave fans a lot of insight into her early life and struggles, and in a recent interview about it, she elaborated on a specific story she shared about a traumatic moment from her teens.
Allison has recently opened up about a very difficult moment in her life, and her revelation has shocked fans.
She did an interview with The Jamie Kern Lima Show about her new book, where she shared intimate details about her professional and personal life that fans had never heard before — and one of them was about a painful event that happened when she was 17.
“I had experienced my first time really feeling like I’d been taken advantage of,” Allison explained, saying that the alleged abuse came from within the “dance community,” where “older men really take advantage of the vulnerability that women go through, especially in the dance community.”
She spoke about the power differential in dance communities, something DWTS pro Val Chmerkovskiy also recently discussed:
“Where we look up to our teachers and we just trust them, and dance can be very physical. It can be very sexual, even at a young age. It tore me apart for a lot of years.
“I felt like it was my fault because how could it have gotten to that place? I must have done something wrong and I felt so much shame in who I was.”
While she knows now that she shouldn’t be ashamed of what happened to her, even now, it’s hard for her to shake that feeling.
“To this day, it’s one of those things — Man, if I would have just spoken out for myself, maybe I could have built myself back up and helped other young girls, too, to not let that happen,” the reality TV star admitted.
But then, her life changed completely when she had her daughter.
“When I had my daughter, I realized that I [needed] to build her up. If anything ever happened to her, you know, come to someone, come to me, come to someone you feel safe with and say, ‘This was wrong, and that should never have happened.'”
Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss Apparently Struggled With Something Similar
At the beginning of January, Allison opened up about some harrowing revelations involving her husband, Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss’ childhood and teenage years.
Stephen, who passed away in 2022 from what was ruled a suicide, kept a comprehensive journal of his struggles, and it was very difficult for Allison to discover the painful details of what her husband was going through.
Stephen reportedly alluded to being sexually abused in several of his journal entries, Allison told PEOPLE, but he didn’t want to tell his family and friends because he felt he had to deal with it on his own.
“He was wrestling with a lot inside himself, and he was trying to self-medicate and cope with all those feelings because he didn’t want to put it on anyone because he loved everyone so much.
“He didn’t want other people to take on his pain.”
It broke Allison’s heart to know everything her husband was keeping bottled up, but despite the grief, she said it gave her “a better perspective,” and hopefully, she will learn from the tragedy that it’s okay to ask for help when dealing with trauma.
