When Ricki Lake married Ross Burningham in January 2022, she described finding love “when we least expected it, during the darkest days of Covid, both in our 50s.” Four years later, that partnership has been tested in ways few couples could imagine — and it has held.
For fans who grew up watching Lake’s daytime talk show or cheering her on through Dancing with the Stars, her personal life has always carried a certain weight. She has been open about grief, mental health, and reinvention in ways that feel almost radical for a celebrity of her era. Her marriage to Burningham is the latest chapter in that story — one marked by resilience, mutual support, and a willingness to start over.
Here’s what we know about Ricki Lake’s husband and the life they’ve built together.
Who Is Ross Burningham?
Ross Burningham is a lawyer and a San Diego native, according to reporting on the couple’s move to New York City in 2025. He is 58 years old, one year older than Lake, who turned 57 in 2025.
Unlike some celebrity spouses who come from within the entertainment industry, Burningham built his career outside of Hollywood. That distance from the spotlight may be part of what makes the relationship work — Lake has spoken about how the two “found each other when we least expected it,” describing a connection that felt fated despite their different worlds.
The couple met on a blind date in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Lake has joked that they “should never have crossed paths, but the stars aligned,” crediting a friend named Gem for the introduction. They married in 2022.
A Marriage Tested by Fire — Literally
In January 2025, Lake and Burningham lost their Malibu home in the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. The property was more than just a house. Lake had called it her “dream home” and “heaven on earth,” a place where she and Burningham had “planned to grow old together.” It also held profound personal significance: the backyard’s “ceremonial circle” was where the ashes of Lake’s late ex-husband, Christian Evans, were buried.
The loss was catastrophic. Lake documented the harrowing final hours on Instagram, showing Burningham hosing down neighbors’ palm trees and attempting to siphon gas for their fire defense system before they finally surrendered and evacuated at 8:02 p.m. “No doubt had we stayed, we would not have survived,” she wrote.
What followed was what Lake has described as a “traumatizing” and “harrowing” year. The couple made what she called a “very impulsive decision” to relocate to New York City — a place where Burningham, a San Diego native, “had never spent more than a week at a time.” “He took a leap of faith,” Lake told People, “and said, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’”
It turned out to be the right call. Lake has said the move “has been the best thing we could have done for both of us,” bringing them closer to her adult sons, Milo and Owen, who live in the city. She has described riding the subway daily and creating a new home that “feels very much like home.”
The Anniversary Post That Says It All
On January 2, 2026, Lake marked their fourth wedding anniversary with an Instagram post that captured the essence of their partnership.
“Ross, I love doing life with you,” she wrote. “This year has rocked our world like no other and yet, through our committed partnership and bond we have managed to rise from the ashes, quite literally and pivot, and still find the joy and wonder in all of life’s surprises and hardships.”
She added: “I’m so proud of how we have rallied and created a new and exciting next chapter for us in NYC. Thx for saying yes, on that day 4 years ago and every day thereafter. 2026 is gonna be good. I love you.”
The phrase “rise from the ashes, quite literally” is not hyperbole. It is a direct reference to the wildfire that destroyed their home — and to the choice they made to rebuild together rather than let the loss define them.
Lake’s Marital History and the Weight of Grief
To understand Lake’s marriage to Burningham, it helps to understand what came before. She was married to illustrator Rob Sussman from 1994 to 2003, with whom she shares sons Milo (now 28) and Owen (now 24).
Her second marriage, to jewelry designer Christian Evans, was brief but profoundly impactful. They wed in 2012, but Evans’s struggles with bipolar disorder led to their divorce in 2016. Evans died by suicide in February 2017 at age 45.
Lake has spoken extensively about that loss, describing Evans as her “beloved soulmate” and saying she “will mourn the loss of Christian’s beautiful soul every day of my life.” She has also channeled her grief into advocacy, working to reduce stigma around mental illness and continuing Evans’s passion project, the documentary Weed the People, which explores medical cannabis for children with cancer.
When Lake found love again with Burningham, she told People she believed Evans would give the relationship “two thumbs up” because she was in a better place. “I had to go through the darkness to get back to the light,” she said.
What Makes Their Partnership Work
Lake has been candid that the relationship with Burningham came at an unexpected stage of life. “Found each other when we least expected it, during the darkest days of Covid, both in our 50s,” she wrote on their anniversary. That framing matters. This is not a story about young love or a whirlwind romance. It is a story about two people who had already lived full lives — with losses, baggage, and established identities — choosing to build something new anyway.
The wildfire and relocation tested that choice in concrete ways. Burningham left his home state and his comfort zone. Lake rebuilt a life in a city she had left more than two decades earlier. They did it together, and by Lake’s own account, they came out stronger.
“We’ve made a life for ourselves here,” she told People. “I’ve created this home here — it feels very much like home. What surprises me the most is that we’ve landed on our feet the way we have.”
Where They Are Now
As of early 2026, Lake and Burningham are settled in New York City. Lake continues to work on projects related to wildfire survival and mental health advocacy. She has expressed optimism about the year ahead, writing on Instagram that she is approaching 2026 “with an open mind and heart.”
In a world where celebrity marriages often collapse under far less pressure, Ricki Lake and Ross Burningham’s partnership stands out for a simple reason: they chose each other at a time when neither was looking, and they keep choosing each other through the hardest moments. That is not a fairy tale. It is something more durable — and arguably more interesting.
Leave a Reply