Allison Holker Found Writing Her Upcoming Memoir ‘Very Therapeutic’: ‘I Didn’t Know I Needed It’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Allison Holker in New York City in 2024.Photo:Paul Morigi/Getty

Paul Morigi/Getty

Allison Holkeris opening up about the emotional writing process for her new memoir.TheSo You Think You Can Dancejudge, 36, spoke with PEOPLE at the Rookie Kids Fashion Show on Sept. 26, where she discussed her memoir,This Far: My Story of Love, Loss, and Embracing the Light, which publishes in 2025. For Holker, the book was a way to share the experiences of her family — including kids Weslie, 16, Maddox, 8, and Zaia, 4 — following the death of her husbandStephen “tWitch" Bossin 2022.“This book is a tell-all [of] my life, just to share with my kids and my family the experiences that we’ve had,” Holker tells PEOPLE. “And kind of open up to the world, the complications of an experience that we’ve had together, but that you’re gonna be okay.”

Courtesy of Harper Select, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus

“I felt like writing this book was actually very therapeutic for myself, and I didn’t know I needed it, but I did,” she says. “I needed to be able to open up and be super transparent. And I thought it was really a place for me to be super authentic with myself and honest, and a place where my kids also read about everything too, in their futures.”

Holker also says she wants her kids to read the book “whenever they feel comfortable.”“It’s really up to them and their timing, because each kid has their own experience that they’re going through as well, and so you have to be patient with that,” she explains.

“And so that’s been the biggest thing, is everyone’s on their own journey through grief. And that’s what I also want the message to be, as everyone has their own timing. Some people heal faster or later, and it’s important for us to be patient with the different experiences people are on.”

Allison Holker with her kids Weslie, Maddox and Zaia.Allison Holker/Instagram

Allison Holker/Instagram

At the fashion show, Holker also told PEOPLE about how sheintroduced her kidsto her new boyfriend, tech CEOAdam Edmunds. The couple first stepped out together publicly during New York Fashion Week on Sept. 7, and Holker says that she introduced Edmunds to her kids at Universal Studios.

“It was really fun. And we just shared a lot of laughter and a lot of memories, and it was actually a really fun way to start out,” Holker says. She also shared that her daughter, Weslie, was “very supportive” of the new relationship too.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“For myself and for my children, I want to always protect them, first and foremost, make sure that they feel safe and protected, and they’re my number one priority,” Holker said. “So, anyone coming into my life needed to understand that. But yeah, Weslie was the one that inspired me to keep going along.”

source: people.com