Zoe Burkett has confirmed that a Pop Idol reunion was in the works, before being shelved after the sad death of her fellow contestant Darius Danesh.
North East singer Zoe was one of the youngest acts on series one of the hit ITV show 20 years ago. Just teenager at the time, Zoe made it all the way to the final four, thanks to powerhouse performances of the likes of Get Happy and Say A Little Prayer. Darius went one better and finished third, behind Gareth Gates and eventual winner Will Young.
After the show became the most watched thing on TV, all the live show finalists then embarked on a nationwide arena tour, before going into forge successful careers outside of the Pop Idol bubble.
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The programme was brought back into the spotlight in the most tragic of circumstances in mid August when it was announced that Darius had died in an apartment in Minnesota. Autopsy documents have since revealed “toxic effects of chloroethane”, as well as “suffocation” as having contributed to his death.
Zoe was backstage ready to go on stage in Moulin Rouge in London when the new broke of Darius’ death, with her posting a moving tribute to him on her Instagram, as well as thanking fans for their supportive messages.
And in a revealing photo she uploaded to her Insta story this week, Zoe shared the news that she and Darius, along with Will and Gareth and judges Simon Cowell and Nicki Chapman, we’re due to be filming the Pop Idol reunion on Wednesday.
Zoe, who has also starred in Priscilla, The Bodyguard and Rock of Ages on stage, as well as scoring a top 20 hit with single Treat Me Like a Lady, captioned the photo of her watch with a diary reminder on it : “Today would have been a special day for us all. All of us together again after 20 years, filming for ITV.”
She added: Your (sic) never forgotten Darius, hope we can somehow get together to do a special tribute for him.”
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