In February 2017, Ricki Lake was in London when she got a text from Christian Evans' sister, saying he wrote a suicide note via email. "I knew right then that he was gone. Everybody thought he was missing, but I knew," Lake told People in March 2017. Two days later, Evans was found dead in his car from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. "The struggle was just too much for him," Lake tearfully recalled. "He did the best he could."

Lake and Evans started dating in 2010 and got married in 2012. Right off the bat, the two seemed to hit it off. However, Evans — who told Lake he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder earlier in life — was dealing with "a lot of self-esteem issues and a lot of demons," she recalled. "But I understood him."

In 2014, Lake saw Evans in his manic state for the first time and revealed it "was horrific" and "wasn't the person I had been with for four years." One month later, Lake filed for divorce from Evans, so that he could get help and become stable. Soon after, Evans went to a treatment facility. Following his release, Evans and Lake moved back in together, despite calling it quits, and Lake admitted she was "still in love with him" and "wanted to save him."

Ultimately, Evans' mania returned in September 2016 and Lake realized "there was nothing I could do," so he moved out.

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