Allison Holker Says Kids Handled Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss’ Death ‘With Grace’ (Exclusive) ArticlePure

Allison Holker is opening up about how her kids have navigated the loss of their dad Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE on the red carpet at the 2024 Critics Choice Real TV Awards on Saturday, June 15, the professional dancer, 36, spoke about her “three beautiful angels” — daughters Zaia, 4, and Weslie, 16, and son Maddox, 8 — and shared how they have dealt with the loss of their father with “so much grace and so much kindness.”

“We always had a really close bond as a family,” Holker said. “But there’s a new level of it now. There’s a new level of respect and patience and understanding. And the conversations I’m able to embrace and have with my children is like nothing I’ve ever seen from other families.”

“It came from something so sad and painful, but it’s only brought us together,” she added.

Boss, Holker’s husband and fellow So You Think You Can Dance alum, died by suicide in December 2022 at age 40. Holker said the family’s loss has brought them all closer together.

“I don’t feel like it’s made us fight against each other. It’s actually brought us together to really want to unite as one,” she explained. “And I’m really grateful that that’s the side that my kids fell on.”

She continued, “And I’m trying to teach them to learn how to embrace and want to help other people because people do feel so connected to us, and I don’t take that lightly, and sometimes it comes with a lot of energy from other people, but I’d rather be able to support people and show them the gratitude I have for their support for us.”

“So I’m trying to teach my children now how to learn how to embrace all that energy that comes our way and hopefully be able to give back,” she added.

Holker and Boss first met while working on So You Think You Can Dance in 2010, hitting it off at the season’s wrap party and falling in love after sharing their first dance together.

They grew a family — he adopted her daughter Weslie when they wed in 2013, and they later welcomed Maddox and Zaia together.

Also in her conversation with PEOPLE, Holker said that dance has served as an outlet for her, calling it her “safety net.”

“It always finds me and helps me, and it’s a way for me to get my anxiety off of me and shake it off of me, quite literally shake it off of my body,” she said. “But dance is something that’s always, always helped me through everything I’ve ever experienced.”

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“Even right now, I’m still trying to get my way through dance with this,” she added. “I’ve still been hesitant to dance in my full capacity. That’s kind of my next step in my next chapter is really embracing who I am and embracing dance again and allowing it to hopefully tell my story.”

Although So You Think You Can Dance didn’t take home the prize for best competition series – talent variety, Ariana Madix, Alan Cumming and The Traitors scored big during the sixth annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards, which took pace at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Traitors — the new fan-favorite Peacock reality series — clinched nearly all of its nominations with four wins, and Madix won for her headline-making role in Vanderpump Rules.

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The awards show, according to a press release, “honors excellence in nonfiction, unscripted and reality programming across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.”

It was first launched in 2019, and winners are chosen by a vote of members of the Critics Choice Association (CCA).

Hosted by Randy and Jason Sklar, the event also honored John Walsh with a career achievement award and Tom Bergeron with the Sam Rubin award.