ITV's hit show Britain's Got Talent has lost another shining star. Chantel Bellew was just 34 years old when she died, with her mother calling her a "ray of sunshine"
Britain's Got Talent has changed the lives of many of its contestants, with some performers providing bags of laughs and others showing off serious skills. But while the TV contest has brought joy to millions of viewers over the years, we have lost several of its stars along the way too.
The latest is hopeful Chantel Bellew, the 2019 BGT contestant who taught Strictly judge Anton Du Beke how to tap dance. Chantel was just 34 when she died in hospital from a suspected overdose, weeks after her birthday.
Her mother Jill Dawson told The Mirror her daughter "couldn't handle life" when her career died during lockdown and suffered a devastating breakdown before her death.
Describing Chantel as a "ray of sunshine" and the "brightest star in the sky", she said: "Chantel did the celebrity cruises all over the world and was also teaching dance but it came to an end during lockdown. It affected all the performers. There was a decline in her just before lockdown but it got much worse during lockdown.
When her career died she couldn't handle life and had a breakdown. She went for help but there was not the support afterwards. She wasn't a girl to work in a shop. I told her how to be a barmaid and told her to act like she was on stage.
"Chantel was taken to Bolton hospital last Monday and was blue-lighted to St James in Leeds but on Friday I was told she wasn't going to make it and she passed away."
Sadly, there are several more BGT contestants who have died over the years, including a much-loved musician and a famous granny rapper. We take a look back...
Jack was a member of five-piece dance troupe Green Force Five, who made it to the semi-finals in 2019 before withdrawing from the show due to his untimely death. The talented contestant took his own life at the age of 25 that March. Jack had been a successful dancer before BGT, performing at the London Olympics aged just 18 and reaching the Got to Dance finals with Unity UK.
"I want people to know this can happen to any family," said Jack's heartbroken mum Sandra from Uxbridge, West London. "There is no stereotype – it doesn't have to be a manic depressive who has shown signs of mental health problems. Jack was a kind soul. He worried about everyone else, always focused on others to make sure they were OK. he was the shoulder you cried on."
Norma Clarke
Norma was BGT's famous granny rapper who took to the stage in 2007 dressed in a hoodie and baseball cap. The Birmingham contestant performed self-penned tune Sam The Rapper, wowing judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden and eventually winning over Simon Cowell, making it through to boot camp.
In August 2019, the great-grandmother died in hospital following a long illness, aged 81. Her daughter Amanda said: "She was such a character and many people remembered her for her appearance as a rapper on Britain's Got talent. She entered as she wanted to win the £100,000 prize money to pay for a new community centre for young people on her estate."
Simonne Kerr
Simonne was part of NHS choir B Positive, a 60-strong group made up of staff, donors, and patients from NHS Blood and Transplant, who made it to the BGT finals in 2018 thanks to their moving performances. She worked as a haematology and oncology nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in South London, and in 2015 lost her son Kavele at the age of six to sickle cell disease.
Simonne, 32, was knifed to death in August 2018 by on-off partner Desmond Sylva. He slashed her throat and stabbed her more than 70 times. In July 2019, he was jailed for life for her murder at the Old Bailey. The nurse's colleagues paid tearful tributes to their pal, calling her 'one in a million'. "She was so funny, she was so smart and she was so, so strong."
