Naya Rivera’s Glee castmates share their most memorable moments working alongside the late actress

Four former Glee stars are looking back on the life and work of their late co-star Naya Rivera.

The hosts of the And that’s what you REALLY missed podcastJenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale, joined Heather Morris and Chris Colfer for their Snixxmas Special Charity Drive in the Burbank neighborhood of Los Angeles.

According to Peoplethe event was held in honor of Rivera, who was known for hosting annual Snixxmas parties during the holidays, and to benefit the house of alexandriaa halfway house for women and children in Los Angeles that was championed by Rivera over the years.

Heather Morris (left) and Chris Colfer (right) joined And That’s What You Really Missed hosts Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz for the podcast’s Snixxmas Special Charity Drive.

A Look Back: Snixxmas Special Charity Drive honored late Glee star Naya Rivera, who died during a lake accident in July 2020

During the special, Glee alumni reminisced about their favorite memories of Rivera and what it was like working with the late actress during the six seasons that aired on Fox from 2009 to 2015.

Morris played cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce, the love interest of Santana López de Rivera on Glee. She maintained that any scene she shared with Rivera was memorable.

There are so many favorite memories. I don’t have a specific moment, but I really enjoyed the scenes where it was just me and Santana because as actors we all knew that being on camera with Naya was just a gift that kept on giving,” Morris said. “She was always there and always in the moment.”

“I felt so blessed to be able to act alongside her,” added Morris, 35. She was always my biggest champion too. In one scene, she would give me anything I needed.

Tribute: The charity drive was held in honor of Rivera, who was known for hosting annual Snixxmas parties during the holidays, and to benefit Alexandria House, a halfway house for women and children in Los Angeles that Rivera championed throughout over the years.

Morris singled out the 2011 episode titled Sexy as one of the most significant moments of her time on the show. That’s where Brittany and Santana expressed their feelings for each other singing Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide alongside guest star Gwyneth Paltrow.

“I think Landslide was very, very special and always will be. It was just such an iconic moment, a beautiful song. It was one of the first moments we had on the show,’ she revealed.

When thinking of Rivera’s talents, McHale was always amazed at his ability to remember all of his lines, no matter how long his lines were.

‘Naya might show up and say, “What scene are we going to do today?” and she would have one of these crazy two-page monologues,” said McHale, who played Artie Abrams on the hit Fox series, adding, “Jenna and I would be going over our two lines that we had in the episode.”

Morris, who played cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce, the love interest of Santana López de Rivera, stated that any scene she shared with Rivera was memorable; Ushkowitz (left) is shown performing with Rivera (center) and Morris (right)

Talented: McHale joked about Rivera’s incredible talent and how “it was really infuriating and also amazing to watch”; McHale is seen with Rivera

Ushkowitz, 36, jumped into the conversation, joking about how they’d be “sweating over their lines” before filming.

“Oh my gosh, am I going to say this right? I have two seconds to get the line out!” McHale chimed in. “Then I’d go to the hair and makeup trailer and [Rivera would] be like, ‘Okay, let me see this,’ and then she wouldn’t miss a word.’

Ushkowitz, who played Tina Cohen-Chang, couldn’t have agreed more about Rivera’s ability to nail her lines: “It was the wildest thing to witness. She would never mix her words.

McHale joked about Rivera’s incredible talent and how “it was really infuriating and also amazing to watch,” adding, “She was so good, so good…she was a gift that we have to be with every day.”

High praise: Ushkowitz, who played Tina Cohen-Chang, couldn’t have agreed more about Rivera’s ability to nail her lines: ‘It was the wildest thing to witness. She would never mix her words’

Immense talent: The stars of Glee reminisced when they paid tribute to Rivera during the holiday charity drive.

Rivera tragically drowned on July 8, 2020 while swimming with her then four-year-old son Josey in Lake Piru, which is near Santa Clarita, California.

It is believed that he jumped into the water to help Josey get back to his small rental boat, but was unable to make it back.

Her young son was found alone on the boat that night with no sign of his mother.

Rivera’s body was later discovered in the lake on July 13, after a five-day search, and authorities with the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office ultimately ruled the cause of death to be accidental drowning.

Originally, Ushkowitz and McHale hosted the Showmance podcast, but in the aftermath of Rivera’s death, the duo was approached by iHeartRadio about doing an entirely new podcast.

Tragic: Rivera drowned on July 8, 2020 while swimming with her then four-year-old son Josey in Lake Piru, which is near Santa Clarita, California; she is pictured with her son in February 2019

After long discussions, they finally decided to launch the new podcast, And That’s What You REALLY Missed, to talk about all things Glee.

In a recent episode, McHale and Ushkowitz discussed the profound experience of rewatching Rivera’s performance of I Say A Little Prayer on Glee with Morris and Dianna Agron.

“This is the first time I felt like we actually saw Naya on the show and I just burst into tears,” Ushkowitz shared. ‘It’s also like seeing her in her element too, [which] it is cheerful too.

iHeartRadio is dropping new episodes of And That’s What You REALLY Missed on a weekly basis across multiple podcast platforms.