Pop Idol winner Will Young has broken his silence after the tragic passing of Darius Campbell Danesh aged 41.
Darius' family released a statement on Tuesday (August 16) that the star had been found dead at his Rochester, Minnesota home. The statement read: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Darius Campbell Danesh. Darius was found unresponsive in bed in his apartment room in Rochester, Minnesota, on August 11 and was pronounced dead in the afternoon by the local medical examiner's office."
Both Darius, and Will, 43, rose to fame on the 2001 series of Pop Idol as Will took to his social media to pay tribute to his fellow finalist. He shared a throwback photo of the pair smiling while hugging one another and on Instagram gave his condolences in the caption.
Pop Idol champion Will wrote: "For the past few days my thoughts have been with Darius's family and will continue to be so. I found this picture a while ago taken during Pop Idol. If there was ever an example of not giving up on your dreams then Darius is top of the pile. Driven, courageous and gentle. My love goes to his family at this time x".
Darius placed third in the competition, while Will was crowned winner after going head-to-head with Gareth Gates. His family announced in a statement his cause of death is still being investigated after he was found dead in his bed in his flat in America.
Former Pop Idol hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly also remembered the singer, tweeting: “We are very sorry to hear of the passing of Darius Campbell Danesh at such a tragically young age. We had many laughs with him on his Pop Idol journey. Our hearts go out to his lovely family. #RIP” followed by a praying hands emoji.
While Gareth shared: "I can’t quite believe the news of my dear friend Darius passing. I’m heartbroken. Darius took me under his wing during our time in Pop Idol, like a big brother; always looking out for me and for that I thank you my friend.
"I will miss our chats. He was one of the most beautiful, intelligent and gentle souls I was lucky enough to know, a soul that lit up every room. Goodbye my friend. Forever in my heart x".
Pop Idol judge and music mogul Simon Cowell called Darius a “charismatic, funny and just a great person to be with” following the singer’s death. In a statement given to the PA news agency, former Pop Idol judge Cowell, 62, said: “I first saw Darius on television over 20 years ago and I got to know him really well.
“He was charismatic, funny and just a great person to be with. His passing, for someone so young, is an absolute tragedy and my heart goes out to his family and friends.”
Former Pop Idol judge Pete Waterman appeared on the ITV programme Good Morning Britain on Wednesday to describe Darius as a “true, true gentleman in every sense of the word”. He said: “He had a record career, then he was on the stage, then he took up opera, then he was making films. He was all over the place. It was quite incredible and he really was a fabulous person.”
Following his death, Colourblind has re-entered music charts and on Wednesday morning was listed in the first spot on the iTunes download chart.
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