Ryan Dorsey has started dating again five years after the tragic death of his ex-wife, Naya Rivera.
“He’s been telling me for years that he wants a brother and a stepmom,” Dorsey, 41, told People of son Josey, 9, in an interview published Friday, February 14. “I’m like, ‘Well, I got to get a girlfriend first.’ Expecting someone to sign up for my life and his life, it’s not easy. I think he’s easy, but all the variables, it’s a lot to ask from someone.”
The actor was previously married to Rivera from 2014 to 2018, and they welcomed their son in September 2015. Two years after Dorsey and the Glee alum divorced, she died by drowning in July 2020 at the age of 33.
Dorsey, with the help of his and Rivera’s respective families, now raises Josey as a single parent. They recently relocated from Los Angeles to Dorsey’s native West Virginia.
According to People, Dorsey’s new partner also lives on the East Coast “several hours” away from the Tracker star. He noted he wants to be “cautious” with respect to Josey’s well-being.
“You bring somebody around and Josey gets hopeful, and you don’t want to break his heart,” Dorsey said. “But, to be honest, I think he can handle anything at this point given what he’s been through.”
It is Dorsey’s first romance since Rivera’s passing.
“I haven’t had any girlfriends really,” he said. “Obviously, [raising Josey is] a full-time job and career is a full-time job, and then you got to do things for yourself, so there’s not much time to go out and try to meet someone.”
Ultimately, Dorsey realized that he didn’t want to raise his son “by myself.”
“The hard part about being a single parent is you don’t have that coparent situation to help you make decisions, like what school he’s going to go to, which sports to play,” Dorsey told the outlet. “Grandma is his mom’s mom and Grammy is my mom, and Grandma and Grammy have their input, but ultimately everything is up to me now.”
Dorsey has not publicly identified his new love interest but remains hopeful that his “single-dad days are numbered.”
“It’s someone that keeps me ambitious and inspired and off the [dating] apps,” Dorsey teased. “It’s been a long time since I met somebody that I’m like, ‘Let me try to give this a real shot.’ So, we’ll see what happens. I’m taking it one day at a time.”
