Lea Michele says she refuses to watch 'Glee' tribute to Cory Monteith to keep his character alive

• Lea Michele said that she has never watched the "Glee" tribute episode to Cory Monteith.
• Monteith, who played Finn Hudson in the show, died of a drug overdose in 2013.

Lea Michele said that she has never watched the "Glee" tribute episode to her costar and former boyfriend Cory Monteith so it "feels like Finn is still there."

Monteith and Michele starred in the hit musical series as Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry, who eventually became lovers in the show. The actors also dated from 2012 until Monteith died in 2013 of a drug overdose.

During the first night of her "An Evening with Lea Michele: Life in Music" tour, the "Glee" star reflected on performing Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" for the tribute episode titled "The Quarterback."

In a video recorded by a fan, Michele says before singing the song: "I have never watched the episode. It's the only one I have not seen because I think if I don't watch it, it just kind of feels like Finn is still there."

Michele also spoke about how the song was chosen as Rachel's tribute to Finn in the episode. She said the showrunner Ryan Murphy asked her specifically to choose a song.

"How can I pick a song that says everything?" Michele recalled. "I don't even remember what I was listening to at the time. Like, nothing. I was just in such a hole. I'm grateful that [Murphy] asked me. I really, really, really am. Because it needed to be something that felt real for me. But it was also so hard."

Michele said that she had chosen "Make You Feel My Love" because she had listened to it with Monteith before.

"A lot of what I say to [costar Matthew Morrison's] character in that classroom were exact words that I said to Ryan after everything," she said. "I said I don't want to be treated with kid gloves. I want to just come back to work and be with everyone because this is the only way I'm going to feel better."

The "Spring Awakening" actress said that it was "really hard" to film the musical number, but it helped her heal from the grief of losing Monteith.

"I would film it, and then I would run off, and then I would come back," Michele added.