Netflix star and country music singer Criscilla Anderson has died at 45 after a battle with cancer – and she announced the death herself in a heartbreaking social media post.
The star – who appeared on Netflix’s 2020 reality show “Country Ever After“– delivered the sad news that she lost her battle with colon cancer in a posthumous announcement posted on her behalf by her friend Lindsey Villatoro.
“If you’re reading this, I’ve finally slipped into the arms of Jesus – peacefully and surrounded by love,” Anderson wrote in the post shared to Instagram on December 2. “Please don’t stay in the darkness of this moment. I fought hard and I loved deeply.”
She added, “I am not gone … I’m Home.”
In the devastating announcement, Anderson, who was also a former choreographer for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, directly addressed the three children she shares with her ex-husband, fellow country musician Coffey Anderson.
Criscilla also mentioned her stepdaughter, Savannah, 17, who she lovingly called her “bonus girl”.
“Ethan, you made me a mum. I’m still beside you, cheering you on,” Anderson wrote. “Savannah, my bonus girl – you were a gift God knew I needed. Emmarie, my Jesus-loving dancer – keep dancing through every season. Everleigh, my bright spark – chase your dreams boldly and without fear.”
“My babies … I am watching over you,” she added. “When a moment feels warm, familiar, or too beautiful to be coincidence — that’s me. I’m still mothering you. I’m still yours.”
Anderson was first diagnosed with colon cancer in 2018. Following treatment, she went into remission in 2021 only for the cancer to return in late 2022.
“The thing with cancer is that the chances of it returning are very, very high,” she prophetically told People magazine just before her cancer returned. “That’s why it’s always been important for me to not only celebrate all the victories, but prepare my mind for a bad scan, which takes us right back to the drawing board. It’s almost like I have to treat the cancer like a chronic disease.”
“Do I want this diagnosis? Of course not,” she added. “Who would want this? There are times when I get mad and I get angry and I get sad and then, I get hopeful again. The fight is still on, but I have a lot of fight in me.”
Last month, her friend Lindsey, who shared Anderson’s death announcement, revealed that the singer’s colon cancer had metastasised in her brain following a stroke.
Still, she says Anderson remained hopeful and was planning “to move forward with radiation, possibly chemo” and was “actively exploring trials that specialise in colon cancer research”.
After her death was made public, her ex-husband Coffey – they were married from 2009 to 2022 – paid tribute to the star on Instagram.
“Criscilla defined strength and fighter like no other person on the planet,” he wrote. “Heaven gained a star today.”
“We miss you already. Our hearts are shattered. Our minds are jumbled. Our lives will never be the same. The house is quieter because you’re missing.”
The couple appeared together in Netflix’s 2020 reality show Country Ever After, which followed their lives as they juggled family life and career goals.
The series also documented Anderson’s fight against stage 3 colon cancer and how their Christian faith helped them cope.
