One-hit wonders are common in Hollywood. Anyone from stars like Jesse McCarthy to Aaron Carter, however, have yet to make it back into the mainstream. Though, actress Ricki Lake has managed to keep up appearances in the media over the years. Lake was a legend in both the acting community and on daytime television. Being the youngest talk-show host at just 24-years-old, Ricki Lake made plenty of head away. She even went on to win her first Daytime Emmy Award For Outstanding Talk Show Host. For her role as the iconic Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 classic Hairspray, Lake took home an Independent Spirit Award For Best Female Lead. Even to this day, Ricki Lake still has acting and talkshow host offers rolling in. Having been in showbiz for what seems like forever, Ricki Lake has made it clear that she’s here to stay. While Lake has lived a successful 30 years in showbiz, her personal life was riddled with tragedies.
Ricki Lake Stays Relevant
Ricki Lake certainly made her mark on Hollywood, especially given her net worth of $16 million. The Hairspray alumni isn’t retiring anytime soon. To this day, Lake continues to find work as an entertainer. After her second talk-show failed in 2013, Lake went on to make a cameo appearance in the Live performance of the tv musical Hairspray on December 7, 2016.
Afterward, the actress took up reality tv gigs. In 2017, Lake appeared as a guest judge on the British talent show Let It Shine and in 2018, she did some work on the British television show Through the Keyhole hosted by Keith Lemon. Perhaps her biggest reality tv gig came in 2019 when she was revealed as The Raven on The Masked Singer, performing songs like “Rainbow” by Kesha. Ricki Lake even made it into the finals on season 13 of Dancing With The Stars. In 2020, the star continues to keep herself busy with various projects. Looks like her $16 million net worth will get just a little bigger come 2021.
Lake Deals With Loss
Ricki Lake maintained her relevance in Hollywood for 30 years. She even made her life seem like it was perfect. Though, looks can be deceiving. Sources note that the Cry-Baby star’s personal life isn’t as picture-perfect as it might seem. The 52-year-old has had her fair share of ups and downs in her life.
Lake has been married twice, but her second marriage to jewelry designer Christian Evans ended in tragedy. Lake and Evans were married for three years, from 2012 to 2015. The two seemed like the perfect couple at a glance. Even Ricki Lake believed their marriage at one point was perfect, as she often referred to Evans as “the love of her life.” Two years later, Lake’s second husband was reported dead. TODAY further identified the cause of death as a suicide. News broke that Evans secretly suffered from mental problems for years. The divorce had been too much for the jewelry designer to handle, unfortunately. While Evan’s tragic passing was difficult to overcome, Ricki Lake turned the loss into a positive. The 52-year-old became vocal on social media about the grief and pain of dealing with Evan’s death. Additionally, Evan’s death led Lake to become an outspoken advocate for mental health care.
Eventually, Ricki Lake was able to heal from her husband’s suicide and find love again. Back in February of 2019, the Hairspray alumni gushed about her new love interest to People Magazine, "I found love again.” We love seeing the former The Ricki Lake Show host happy in love again. Reportedly, Lake has been dating the founder of clothing company Golden Thread, Jeff Scult. Now into the new decade, the two are still going strong. Back in November of this year, an OK! Insider revealed, “Ricki says Jeff’s love saved her, and she’s finally content with herself. It’s been a long journey.” Ricki Lake acknowledges that she’s weathered through some very traumatic events but is thankful that her boyfriend’s support.
Ricki Lake’s Struggles With Her Body Image
Unfortunately, even the best of us aren’t invincible against life challenges. Lake not only had to deal with the devasting loss of her ex-husband, but she also suffered mental issues of her own. Throughout her 30-year career span, the Cry-Baby actress secretly battled depression from weight loss and hair loss issues. The OK! Insider revealed that for years Lake struggled with keeping her weight down. While filming Hairspray at age 19 the star weighed her heaviest at 260 pounds. Lake’s struggle with weight only added to depression and led the actress to stress eat. Thankfully, Lake has found healthier ways to lose weight and is eating right. However, Lake suffered another paralyzing issue with extreme hair loss.
During an exclusive interview on the Good Morning America show with Robin Roberts, Lake opened up about her epic hair loss, calling it a “debilitating” experience. Lake explained that while filming Hairspray, she’d constantly “triple-processed and teased her hair every 2 weeks.” That’s a lot of chemicals and strain on her hair. Lake tried several remedies to rectify her hair such as hair extensions, wigs, and at one point, she even took steroid shots to the head. None of it worked and the whole ordeal almost led Lake to commit suicide. Luckily, the 52-year-old received the help she desperately needed. She eventually learned to love herself and embraced her new body image in the end.
Ricki Lake has lived through several lifetimes of tragedies, but she’s fought her way through. Lake’s struggles with weight and hair loss are especially commendable, given all the strength and self-love she has for herself now. The actress is focusing on loving herself these days.