Celebrity Big Brother star Heavy D has died at the age of 47, his friend has confirmed.
The larger than life reality star, real name Colin Newell, passed away this week after "going missing" for a fortnight, Mirror Online understands.
His brother Patrick Newell confirmed the sad news, saying he'd been desperately searching for Colin for two weeks before his death.
Colin had not been seen on social media since November 14.
His pal Nick Nevern tweeted: "I’m very shocked & saddened to hear of the passing of my friend @HeavyHeavyd.
"u lived ur life the way u wanted to & f**k anyone who didn’t like it! U always brought a smile to my face bro & lifted any room you where in. #RIPHeavyD."
He was a devoted Arsenal fan and regularly gave interviews on AFTV, with the channel tweeting about the news of his death.
A post on the AFTV Twitter page read: "We are shocked to hear the sad news that Heavy D has passed away today. Our condolences go to his family at this very sad time. #RIPHeavyD."
No more details about his death were available.
He continued to be active on social media up until almost two weeks ago and posted his last tweet on November 14.
Heavy D's real name was Colin Newell and he was best known for appearing on Storage Wars and for his stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.
He was on the show alongside stars including Stephen Bear, Lewis Bloor, Chloe Khan, Marnie Simpson and Samantha Fox.
Heavy D was the fourth to be evicted with Stephen Bear going on to win.
Before shooting to fame, he worked as a cab driver and market stall salesman.
He had also been aspiring actor even taking a two year course at the Young Actors Theatre.
Heavy D became a dad in 2017 when his on/off girlfriend Bryony Harris gave birth to a daughter.
They had been engaged but split over Christmas 2016 before getting back together.
In recent years, Heavy D appeared to have had a tough time.
He appeared on an episode of Judge Rinder in 2018 to address a dispute with his landlord.
The landlord was claiming the reality star had cause £5,000 of damage to his property, while Heavy D disputed the amount and demanded £8,000 for loss of earnings caused by a negative story the owner had sold to the press.
During the show, Judge Rinder asked why he was not able to pay for two months rent despite his celebrity status.
Heavy D explained he had been struggling to find work after CBB.
He told Judge Rinder: "The work had dried up.
"I came out of Big Brother. I thought there was going to be loads of work. My agent couldn’t get me any work and the work just dried up."
Heavy D's trainer Matt Fiddes has now paid tribute to him in a statement.
Matt wrote: "Gutted to hear my former client and friend @heavydboom (Colin Newell) best known for his appearance in #celebritybigbrother and #storagehunters has died so young.
"He was on a real mission to improve his health and was making amazing progress. Getting into boxing and eating clean. And training so hard.
"I would imagine the closure of gyms and fitness facilities was tough on him for his physical and mental health. He lived for the progress he was making and his fight nights.
"Such a pleasure to be with and so nice to all my instructors and students. He always took the time out to greet them all.
"Totally shocked! One of the funniest men I have ever known and a pleasure to train and try and keep on track. Which was not easy at times!!
"RIP my friend."
