Actress Naya Rivera’s body was recovered from Lake Piru on Monday following a near week-long search after she was filed as a missing person on July 8.
It was confirmed that Naya Rivera, 33, had died after her body was recovered in the Californian lake by US authorities.
Rivera was most famous for her lengthy six-seasons role as cold-hearted Santana Lopez in the hit musical show Glee.
But Naya, 33, had actually begun her acting career as a four-year-old in the Royal Family sitcom on CBS.
Naya Rivera’s body was recovered from a Californian lake yesterday
She later played the role of Tanya Kelly starring alongside Tahj Mowry on Disney channel’s teen comedy Smart Guy.
On the comical programme, she was the best friend and first crush of main character TJ Henderson, with the pair later forming an off-screen romance together.
Tahj took to his Instagram account after the devastating news broke that she had gone missing.
In the lengthy post, he emotionally told fans: “We grew up together. We became adults together. We experienced so many firsts together. You were my first experience with everything; love, intimacy, heartbreak.
Naya Rivera and Tahj Mowry on Smart Guy together in the 90s
“We broke each other’s hearts and then mended them back together…more than once. I will never not think of you.
“No woman has ever measured up what you gave me or how you made me feel. I’ve never liked to admit it but I have never stopped loving you.
“A part of me always wished for the day where God would bring us back together to be what we dreamt we could have been.”
Naya Rivera landed her most iconic role in 2009 on glee as Santana Lopez (Image: Getty)
It wasn’t until 2009 that she landed one of the biggest roles in her career as she took centre stage on Glee as misunderstood cheerleader Santana Lopez.
Unbeknownst to the stars of the show at the time, the McKinley High School’s glee club would go on to become a global hit with fans.
On the show, she featured in some memorable story lines, including marrying her best friend Brittany, who was played by Heather Morris.
Through the success of Glee, Rivera attended many swanky red carpet events after the show achieved multi-award winning status.
The Glee cast went on to win global status and multiple awards
In 2011, Rivera attended Golden Globes, celebrating the win of the Best Musical Comedy for the second year on the trot.
As the popularity of the show received global acclaim, the stars of the programme went on to become world-wide celebrities.
Despite never releasing a studio album, Rivera was signed to Columbia Records as a solo musical artist in 2011.
She did however launch one track Sorry, that featured rapper Big Sean, who she was dating at the time.
It wasn’t until 2014, that Rivera scooped her first role on the big screen as she starred in the horror film At The Devil’s Door, playing character Vera.
The Glee cast celebrate their second win at the Golden Globe for Best Musical Comedy (Image: Getty)
In the same year, she struck up a relationship with actor Ryan Dorsey, with the pair tying the knot in July 2014.
The following year, the pair announced they were expecting a baby and welcomed baby Josey into the world in September of 2015.
But it wasn’t meant to be, and the couple filed for divorce in 2018.
Taking a different career path, Rivera tried her hand at writing, publishing her first book Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up in 2016.
In 2017, she secured a role as Felipa in her second film, starring alongside Charlie Sheen in Mad Families.
More recently, Rivera played a high school administrator in Step Up: High Water, which aired on YouTube Red.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
