https://www.instagram.com/p/BQgs7skgnAv/ 
 
 Ricki Lake’s ex-husband Christian Evans has passed away. In an emotional Instagram post on Tuesday, February 14, Lake revealed that Evans battled bipolar disorder. 
 
 “It is with a heavy heart that I share that my beloved soulmate, Christian Evans, has passed,” the former talk show host, 48, wrote alongside a sweet photo of herself with Evans. “The world didn’t understand this man, but I did. He succumbed to his life long struggle with bipolar disorder. For anyone who has ever lost a family member or friend to mental illness, my heart goes out to you. I am a greater person for having known him and spent the past 6 and a half years of my life with him. He was a man of love and what mends my broken heart today is knowing that he is finally at peace and his spirit is free. Rest in peace, my love.” 
 
 Lake was married to Evans for two years. The couple got engaged in August 2011 and surprised fans by eloping in April 2012. The Ricki Lake Show star split from the jewelry designer in October 2014 and filed for divorce a week later citing irreconcilable differences. 
 
 Lake was previously married to Rob Sussman. Together they share sons Milo, 19, and Owen, 15. 
 
 Us Weekly has reached out to Lake's rep for comment. 
 
 Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox! 
 
 Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now! ||||| A post shared by Ricki Lake (@rickilake) on Feb 14, 2017 at 3:46pm PST 
 
 Ricki Lake‘s ex-husband has died following a lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder. 
 
 “It is with a heavy heart that I share that my beloved soulmate, Christian Evans has passed,” Lake, 48, said in a Tuesday Instagram post of the former couple during happier times. “For anyone who has ever lost a family member or friend to mental illness, my heart goes out to you.” 
 
 Evans was in his 40s. 
 
 “The world didn’t understand this man, but I did. He succumbed to his life long struggle with bipolar disorder,” the former talk-show host explained. 
 
 Lake and Evans — who have no children together — split in 2014 after three years of marriage. 
 
 “I am a greater person for having known him and spent the past 6 and a half years of my life with him,” she continued. “He was a man of love and what mends my broken heart today is knowing that he is finally at peace and his spirit is free.” 
 
 Evans was a jewelry designer and met Lake in the summer of 2010. “He’s everything to me,” she told People in 2011. 
 
 Lake has two sons with ex-husband Rob Sussman. ||||| Ricki Lake’s ex-husband Christian Evans has passed away. In an emotional Instagram post on Tuesday, February 14, Lake revealed that Evans battled bipolar disorder. 
 
 “It is with a heavy heart that I share that my beloved soulmate, Christian Evans, has passed,” the former talk show host, 48, wrote alongside a sweet photo of herself with Evans. “The world didn’t understand this man, but I did. He succumbed to his life long struggle with bipolar disorder. For anyone who has ever lost a family member or friend to mental illness, my heart goes out to you. I am a greater person for having known him and spent the past 6 and a half years of my life with him. He was a man of love and what mends my broken heart today is knowing that he is finally at peace and his spirit is free. Rest in peace, my love.” 
 
 Amanda Edwards/FilmMagic 
 
 Lake was married to Evans for two years. The couple got engaged in August 2011 and surprised fans by eloping in April 2012. The Ricki Lake Show star split from the jewelry designer in October 2014 and filed for divorce a week later citing irreconcilable differences. 
 
 
 
 Lake was previously married to Rob Sussman. Together they share sons Milo, 19, and Owen, 15. 
 
 
 
 Us Weekly has reached out to Lake's rep for comment. 
 
 Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox!
– "The world didn't understand this man, but I did." That heartbreaking statement appeared on Ricki Lake's Instagram feed on Tuesday in which she announced the death of ex-husband Christian Evans, who Page Six reported died after struggling with mental illness. The 48-year-old former talk-show host, who called Evans her "beloved soulmate" in her post, eloped with Evans in April 2012 and split with him in October 2014 due to irreconcilable differences, Us Weekly reports. But despite the end of their marriage, Lake's love for Evans persisted. She noted in her Instagram message that Evans had long battled bipolar disorder and said she was a "greater person for having known him." "What mends my heart today is knowing he is finally at peace and his spirit is free," she wrote, adding, "Rest in peace, my love." People looks back on their love story. (Lake was once in the news for promoting home births.)