Lea Michele has paid tribute to her late boyfriend Cory Monteith, on his first birthday since his tragic passing. The Glee actress dated her fellow co-star for two years before he died of a heroin and alcohol overdose. Sunday 11 May would have been his 32nd birthday.
Cory Monteith and Lea Michele
“The biggest heart and most beautiful smile.. In all of our hearts.. We love you so. Happy Birthday,” she wrote alongside a black and white photograph of them sharing a particularly happy moment.Cory can be seen with a pen in his hand – the stars of the musical TV show seemingly went over lines together.
Shortly before remembering her former partner Lea had shared an image of herself with another love, her mother, on what was Mother’s Day in the United States.The American star captioned the picture of herself as a child in her parent’s arms: "Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mommy Edith. Thank you for being the most caring & amazing mother in the world."
Cory died last July in a hotel room following a night out with his friends in Vancouver, Canada. The actor had struggled with addiction since his early teenage years and although Lea took a while to openly reference her loss in public, she paid tribute to him at the People’s Choice Awards the following month.The 27-year-old has also told Teen Vogue: "My relationship with Cory made me feel like I could reach for the stars and more. He would be like, 'You're going to be a pop star'."
Lea admits that she isn't ready to date someone new and is instead channelling her energy into her music career. "I'm focusing on my job and taking care of myself," she said. "Maybe in a little while I'll be like, 'What do I want?' But I'm not quite there yet."