What Happened To Ricki Lake?

Ricki Lake was a daytime TV mainstay throughout the '90s and early '00s. Her talk show "Ricki Lake" was a huge hit and garnered her a number of awards and Emmy nominations throughout its 11-season run. Fans of Lake likely also knew her from her film debut in the John Waters cult classic "Hairspray," in which she played Tracy Turnblad.

Lake's talk show wrapped in 2004, and while it was on the air, she also appeared on the series "The King of Queens" and in several more of Waters' films, including "Cecil B. Demented" and "A Dirty Shame." But once Lake was no longer on TV every afternoon, she seemed to have stepped out of the spotlight.

In fact, Lake has never stopped being busy since the end of her talk show, focusing her talents on producing documentaries, appearing on reality competition series, and using her celebrity platform to bring awareness to various issues she had dealt with herself. The mom of two continues to inspire fans, reaching out via social media and speaking about important topics with her signature candor and humor.

Read on to learn more about what happened to Ricki Lake.

During the time Ricki Lake was starring on her daytime talk show, she welcomed two children with her first husband, Rob Sussman. Lake's son Milo was born in 1997, and her second son Owen was born in 2001. The talk show host gave birth to Milo in a hospital setting, which she didn't feel was ideal, so Owen's was a home birth.

Inspired by her experiences, she set out to create a documentary to educate women on their birth options, with the aim of empowering them. Lake and director Abby Epstein starred in the documentary "The Business of Being Born," released on DVD in 2008. The two women documented their own pregnancy experiences and investigated topics like midwifery, home births, and C-sections, among others.

"I want those women to be informed and to know what they're getting into," Lake shared with People. "They need to know the pros and cons of it all — I happen to support home birth because I had a beautiful experience, but I'm not telling everyone to do that. I'm advocating for choices," she explained.

Fifteen years after the film's release, Lake reflected on how much it meant to her, noting the overwhelmingly positive feedback she received on the project. "[T]his film is super personal to me, and the fact that it's had this lasting effect on now generations ... I can't believe it," she shared with Romper.

In 2011, Ricki Lake took on the challenge of performing for a live audience in a way that was pretty far out of her comfort zone. Lake appeared on Season 13 of "Dancing With the Stars," something she had been approached to do in the past but hadn't yet worked up the courage. "It was one of the scariest things I've ever done," she admitted to The Orange County Register. "I had turned it down every single season because I was scared of putting myself out there in that way."

Part of the reason Lake had misgivings about performing on the dance competition show was her insecurity about her weight. Lake has always been very candid when speaking about her personal experiences, and she didn't hold back when she explained why the prospect of "DWTS" intimidated her. "I was scared of the costumes, of my partner having to lift me up, all my body-image stuff," she revealed. "I was really, really uptight about it."

Lake was partnered with pro Derek Hough during the show, and despite her initial hesitation, she made it all the way to the finals, finishing in third place. Ultimately, Lake was happy she'd done the show because it gave her the opportunity to face down her fears. "I love the challenge of reinventing myself. I love proving myself," she said. "'Dancing With the Stars' was a perfect example of that."

Ricki Lake's eponymously titled talk show ran for an impressive 11 seasons from 1992 until 2004, racking up multiple Emmy nominations along the way. After Lake finally stepped away from the talk show circuit, the projects she took on were varied and helped her break out of the talk show host mold.

However, in 2012, she returned to the role she embodied for so many years and hosted "The Ricki Lake Show." Lake had high hopes for the project, telling The Orange County Register, "I feel like I'm going to be better this time around. I kind of know myself in a way that I didn't, and that just comes with life experience, that comes with age." While Lake's confidence was strong, she implied that the new show was not necessarily something she'd strived to achieve. "Nothing in my career has been a conscious choice," she shared, adding, "I wish I could say I had options like Jennifer Aniston or something; the jobs I took were the jobs that came along."

Unfortunately, lightning didn't strike twice, and "The Ricki Lake Show" did not capture audiences like her first talk show had. It was canceled after one season due to low ratings. Following the news of the cancellation, Lake released a statement (via the Los Angeles Times) expressing her pride in having covered various important topics during the show's first and final season. "I will continue to be an active and passionate voice for subjects that are close to my heart," the statement read in part.

Throughout her time as a talk show host, Ricki Lake covered many controversial topics. And she's never been one to shy away from speaking out about health and wellness issues, such as in her 2008 "The Business of Being Born" documentary. In 2018, Lake took on another documentary project, this time tackling the topic of the benefits of medical marijuana.

Lake served as a producer for the project and teamed up again with director Abby Epstein to create "Weed the People." The film focused on the families of children with cancer trying to gain access to cannabis treatments in order to lessen painful symptoms and side effects of chemotherapy. "Weed the People" took five years to complete, and Lake was proud of the work she had accomplished.

"I think our film really has an opportunity ... for really having the public understand what this plant is about, what it can do," Lake shared with CBS News. She also took issue with those who sought to diminish the benefits of cannabis for medicinal purposes. "We've been brainwashed to think that this plant doesn't have medicinal value," Lake explained. "I think it's about really informing the public to understand the history. And how this was a medicine for thousands and thousands of years and only hasn't been a medicine for 80 years."

Ricki Lake's very first starring role in a film was an impressive one. At 18 years old, she starred in the iconic 1988 movie "Hairspray," directed by John Waters. The film, which also starred Divine, Jerry Stiller, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono, Colleen Fitzpatrick (aka Vitamin C), and others, became a cult classic. It spawned a 2007 remake with an all-star cast including John Travolta, James Marsden, Zac Efron, and Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad, the role Lake originated.

In 2018, the original film celebrated its 30th anniversary with a special screening presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. During a panel discussion at the screening, Lake shared her story of getting the role of Tracy Turnblad, explaining that she'd gone to meet Waters during her college finals and got a callback after one audition. "I didn't know what I was getting into, which I think was what helped," Lake said. "I wasn't nervous." She went on to praise Waters and the experience of making the film. "[H]onestly, I have this movie and John to thank for my entire career," she said.

Waters had nothing but praise for Lake as well, and shared how impressed he was with her performance. "[V]ery few girls at that time came to try out, but if 10,000 had tried out, Ricki still would've gotten the part," he gushed.

In 2019, Ricki Lake participated in another reality competition series when she appeared on Season 1 of "The Masked Singer." Lake was disguised in her costume as a raven for her performances, and she was the sixth celebrity that season to have her identity revealed. Lake, like all the show's celebrity performers, signed an nondisclosure agreement before appearing onstage, but it was difficult for her to stay mum. "I'm an open book," she told Extra. "If anybody grew up watching me on TV, I talk about everything, I share."

Lake explained that it was the same producer from "DWTS" who convinced her to give "The Masked Singer" a try, assuring her it would be a great time. Lake was a trained singer as a child, but it had been a long time since she got to exercise her vocal chops, something she was eager to do. "I love the idea of singing again and I haven't sung in a long time," she shared.

Lake also expressed that performing in disguise was really fun and freeing. "It's like being in on the joke or something," she explained. Also notable about the experience was the fact that Lake didn't know who any of the other celebrity performers were because they all only ever saw one another while in their costumes. "I'd, like, see the costume and I'm like trying to figure out who it is, I have no idea," she said.

The other celebs on Lake's season included Rumer Willis, Joey Fatone, Tori Spelling, and Gladys Knight, among others. Singer T-Pain, dressed as a monster, won the season.

Ricki Lake really has been an open book throughout her career, and she has used her celebrity platform to share personal experiences that have likely helped many others. In January 2020, Lake took to Instagram to open up to her fans about something she'd been struggling with for a long time.

Lake posted a carousel of photos of herself rocking a buzz cut and explained that while she wasn't sick, she had long been dealing with hair loss. "Ever since I played Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray back in 1988 and they triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks ... my hair was never the same," she revealed. She went on to explain that she believed her hair loss was the result of many different factors including dieting, pregnancy, stress, and hormonal birth control, and that she had been affected by it for over 30 years.

"It has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing, lonely," Lake wrote in the caption of the post. "Almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing." Lake had tried extensions, wigs, supplements, and even steroid shots, but nothing seemed to solve the problem. But Lake looked strong and proud in the photos she shared, and posting them gave her confidence a much-needed boost. "I think it looked good," she told People.

While Ricki Lake's professional life has been steady and successful, her love life was rocky over the years, to say the least. She and her first husband split in 2003 after nearly 10 years of marriage. "I never thought I would marry again after that," she told People. In 2010, she met her second husband Christian Evans, a jewelry designer who struggled with bipolar disorder. The couple married in 2012, but Lake filed for divorce just two years later in 2014. Tragically, Evans took his own life in 2017, which was a devastating loss for Lake. "The struggle was just too much for him," she explained to People. "He did the best he could."

In 2021, Lake found love again with her current husband Ross Burningham. She announced their engagement via Instagram in a sweet but simple post. "This is Ross. He is my person. He is wonderful," Lake captioned a photo of her and her new man. "I love him very much and I am so grateful I get to love and be loved so deeply by this stellar human. Our next chapter is sure to be a good one."

The couple tied the knot in January 2022, and Lake wore a breezy orange dress, looking as happy as could be. "Ross and I literally pinch ourselves that we have found each other at this time in our lives," the newlywed Lake shared with People.

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In October 2023, Ricki Lake decided she needed to get healthier. According to Lake, she was motivated by several different factors, one of which was her relationship with her husband Ross Burningham. "We found each other later in life, we're in our 50s," she shared with Entertainment Tonight. "I'm 55. I want to feel as good as I possibly can for as long as I can."

Another thing that spurred Lake into a healthier way of living was a doctor who told her that she wasn't going to be able to achieve her weight loss goals. "The doctor that told me I wasn't going to be successful, he motivated me," she explained. "I say thank you to him, you know? He really pissed me off, and I wanted to prove him wrong."

In the past, Lake had relied upon fad dieting and weight loss pills to keep the pounds off, but this time around, she decided to try something different. "I really am focused on eating really clean food, nothing processed — or as little processed food as possible — and intermittent fasting," she shared.

And it worked. Lake lost over 30 pounds, and she was determined to keep it off. She was also happy to share her story with others to prove that it could be done. "I am, I guess, defying the odds," she said. "Not to say I'm better than anyone, but if I can do it, you can, too."

In July 2025, Ricki Lake opened up about yet another personal transformation. This time, she was sharing with fans that she'd undergone a facelift the previous year, and she explained in detail exactly what she had done and why. Lake took to Instagram to show off a series of pics that included consultations with her cosmetic surgeon, the areas she wanted to change, her post-op healing photos, and the end result. Lake posted the pictures on the one-year anniversary of the procedure.

In the caption of her post, Lake shouted out the doctor who performed her surgery and her friend who had undergone the procedure first. Lake also explained what compelled her to make the decision to get the surgery in the first place, sharing that her weight loss played a part in it. "I had lost 40 lbs and did not like the extra skin that hung from below my chin," she wrote. "It was never going to tighten up on its own. Not at 55."

But Lake made sure to add that she felt really good about herself even before having the facelift because she had worked so hard to achieve her fitness goals. "Trust me, when I tell you, I still felt extra cute and loved myself regardless," she shared. "This procedure was the icing on the cake."