Lea Michele honours Cory Monteith on 10th anniversary of Glee co-star’s death: ‘I miss you big guy’

‘Glee’ star died in 2013 from a lethal combination of drugs

Lea Michele has remembered late actor and boyfriend Cory Monteith on the 10th anniversary of his death in an emotional tribute posted to Instagram.

The Glee star, who had a history of opioid drug use, died in 2013, with his death ruled an accident from an overdose of heroin and alcohol. He was 31.

On Thursday (13 July), a decade since his passing, Michele, who had been dating Monteith at the time of his death, paid a special tribute to her former co-star in a social media post.

“Hey you. 10 years. It feels like only yesterday that you were here and yet a million years ago all at the same time,” she wrote, alongside a black and white photo of the two of them. “I hold all of our memories in my heart where they will stay safe and never forgotten.”

She continued: “We miss you every day and will never forget the light you to brought to us all. I miss you big guy.

“I hope you found Taylor up there and are playing the drums together,” Michele added, referencing Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins who died in March 2022 at age 50 from cardiac arrest.

Michele, 36, and Monteith starred in Glee together as on-again-off-again lovers Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson. They later began dating off-screen in 2012, up until his death.

The hit musical comedy series was in the middle of production of its fifth season when Monteith died unexpectedly. The season’s third episode, titled “The Quarterback”, served as a tribute to both the actor and his character, who also died in the show.

After a three-month hiatus, Glee returned and completed season five, with a sixth and final season wrapping up in 2015.

While on tour in 2022, Michele opened up about the difficulties of filming the tribute episode, which featured emotional personal ballads from each character dedicated to Finn.

“A lot of what I say in that episode to Matt’s character [Matthew Morrison, who played Will Schuester], in that classroom, were exact words that I said to Ryan [Murphy] after everything,” she told the audience at the time.

“I said, ‘I don’t want to be treated with kid gloves, I want to just come back to work, and be with everyone because this is the only way I’m going to feel better.’

She continued, tearfully: “I got to sing this song, and I remember filming it. It was really hard, really hard,” Michele recalled. “I would film it and then I would run off and then I would come back.

“We healed together and this song helped. I have never watched the episode. It’s the only one I have not seen because I think if I don’t watch it, it just kind of feels like Finn is still there,” she explained before performing the Adele track “Make You Feel My Love”.

Every year since his death, the Funny Girl actor has publicly honoured Monteith. Last year, Michele posted a behind-the-scenes photo of the pair on the Fox show to her Instagram Story. Underneath the picture, she included a red heart emoji.

In 2019, Michele went on to marry Zandy Reich. The couple welcomed their son, Ever Leo, in 2020.

If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here.

In the US, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP.