On the first anniversary of Cory Monteith’s death, his father, Joe Monteith, is opening up about losing his son. He also spoke about his son’s girlfriend at the time and Glee co-star, Lea Michele.
Joe was estranged from his son for a portion of his life, but before his untimely death at the age of 31 in July of 2013, they were working on getting their relationship back on track.
He told ET Canada in the interview that he didn’t get to go to his son’s funeral because his ex-wife didn’t tell him about it, but notes it “would have meant a lot” if he had.
“I still miss him very much and I still have the empty feeling,” said Joe. He added, "I did receive an email from his mother a couple of days ago [and] in the near future she's going to be sending me some of his stuff.”
Joe called his late son a “likeable, approachable” person and explained that what was so shocking to him about his death was that he really seemed to enjoy life.
“He enjoyed life, that's why I was so shocked about the outcome of everything," he said. "He just seemed to enjoy life overall and then all of a sudden he's gone."
As for Michele, who’s currently dating Matthew Paetz, Joe called her a “beautiful young woman.”
“She's just getting to the top of her career and I don't expect her to go out and do it alone," he said. "She should enjoy life. She had a good time when she was with Cory, from what I understand, but life's gotta go on.”
image via Carlos Diaz/INFphoto.com