Glee star Naya Rivera's sister Nickayla opens up about actress' 'shocking' drowning death

The sister of late Glee star Naya Rivera has opened up about her family's "dark" days following the actress' drowning death in 2020.

Nickayla, 28, shared details of how she coped in the aftermath of the tragedy and spoke about her childhood in a poignant YouTube video.

When describing her sister's drowning in California in July 2020, Nickayla recalled being in "complete shock" and revealed she had already been in a "dark place" when she heard the news.

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"My family and I experienced a tragic loss. In July 2020, my sister Naya passed away. When that happened, I was in complete shock," Nickayla explained in a piece-to-camera.

"My whole family was in complete shock. It was like someone pulled the rug from under us and we didn't see it coming."

Nickayla admitted she was already struggling in the early months of 2020 and the tragic loss only exacerbated her pain.

"The dark that I was in before only progressed when that happened," she added.

"At that time, I had no thoughts of my future. I had no thoughts of myself, really. I was only just experiencing pain."

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The grieving sibling said she went on to realise she had to "find the good in the world" to move on from Naya's death.

"I realised that the pain that I was experiencing wasn't going to go anywhere until I decided to find the good in this world," Nickayla added.

"So, from then on, I went on this journey of discovering who I was."

Naya died at the age of 33 following an accidental drowning in Lake Piru in California on July 8, 2020.

The Glee actress had been with her son Josey, four, at the time — who was later found alive and well on the boat.

Five days after going missing, authorities recovered Naya's body and confirmed she has likely saved her son Josey from drowning before she died.

Naya is one of three stars from the popular musical series who have since died —alongside Cory Monteith, who was found dead in a hotel room in 2013, and actor Mark Salling, who died in 2018.