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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Janine Yaqoob & Kris Gourlay

Scottish Pop Idol star Darius Danesh 'found love' with US businesswoman before death

The devastated girlfriend of the late Scottish Pop Idol star Darius Danesh has paid a moving tribute to the tragic singer following his death in August.

Danesh, who studied in Edinburgh, was found dead in an apartment near the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on August 11 and tests reveal the 41-year-old died from inhalation of the aesthetic chloroethane.

Danesh's girlfriend at the time recently revealed to the world that she was in love with the singer as she posted heartwarming pictures of the pair together at Edinburgh Castle and California.

READ MORE: Edinburgh tourist disgusted after being charged £2750 to stay in Airbnb from hell

The Mirror reports that Lauren Cheek, a US businesswoman who runs a creative agency for women, called Darius: "My best friend, my love, my soulmate - and now my angel."

She said: "Nothing can put into words the pain and shock I'm feeling without you. It still just doesn't feel real. I love you forever and ever."

Close friend of Darius and one of the last people to speak with him before his tragic death, Chris Cochran, told the Star that the singer felt the same way about Lauren.

Chris, 60, said: "He was enjoying a relationship with an old friend that he started dating again. He wasn't depressed. He was happy. Everything was going well."

In a message to Chris in July, he described Lauren as "the angel in my life... my love, the woman I listen to and trust".

Chris, one of the last people to speak to Darius, said: "I feel like he's being misrepresented. He wasn't a drug abuser. He was a wonderful human being who wanted to change the world."

Darius had various health battles throughout his career including contracting meningitis by drinking a dirty bottle of water from a Thames sewage outlet by mistake which led to him being placed in a coma.

He also suffered a cerebral oedema - swelling of his brain - and his immune system was left weakened.

The Colourblind singer was married to Canadian actress and model Natasha Henstridge, 48, from 2011 to 2018. He also dated models Jacqui Ainsley, 40, now Guy Ritchie's wife, and Claire Johnson, 53, the ex of Phones4U billionaire John Caudwell, 70.

Chris said: "I lost a dear friend and the world lost a great man. He was greatly interested in my work and wanted to make a documentary about me. "

"I was teaching him about how to breathe and channel that energy."

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