Chrissy Teigen is speaking publicly about the raw aftermath of her father Ron Teigen’s death, saying the grief has come in waves and that she did not expect how hard the loss would hit. In an Instagram Story video posted Friday, June 12, she said she woke up with her father and went to bed without him after announcing two days earlier that he had died at 86.
The timing gives the loss added force because Teigen has now shared the first detailed account of what the family is facing after her Wednesday announcement. She said she recently wrote her father a letter about how grateful she was for him before he died, and said he worked hard for the family growing up. She shares four children with John Legend.
Teigen has also moved into the practical and painful work that follows a death. She said she went to the funeral home and looked at gravestones, including some belonging to people who died on her birthday, and said she was overwhelmed choosing between a casket and an urn for her father’s remains. Her reflection landed with a sharp edge: she said he would have hated the frills of buying a casket and being buried in it.
That is what makes the loss feel unsettled even as she tries to frame it with grace. Teigen said she had come to terms with her father always having been an “old dad,” but she also said she fell to the ground when he died. The contradiction is the point. Some losses are expected in theory and still unbearable in the moment, and she is describing both at once.
Ron Teigen is survived by his wife, Vilailuck “Pepper” Teigen, their two daughters and multiple grandchildren, while the cause of death has not been revealed. For now, the family is left with grief, paperwork and the hard decision of how to say goodbye, and Teigen’s own words suggest the funeral arrangements are still being sorted rather than finished.
