America’s Next Top Model alumni Jael Strauss, who revealed she was suffering from breast cancer on October 2, has died aged 34.
It is believed the cause of death is related to her cancer diagnosis, which she previously told fans was “incurable”.
In an emotional message on Facebook, she wrote: “I was gonna write some long thing, but some of you guys deserve to know. On October 2, I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer.
“It has aggressively spread throughout my body and is incurable. With treatment, it may prolong my life longer than the ‘few months’ doctors said I could make it.”
She concluded: “I don’t want to die. I need another one of those miracles that I got back in 2013.”
The TV star chose to stop having chemotherapy around Halloween and entered into a hospice on Thanksgiving, according to TMZ.
At the time, she told her followers: “First night in hospice. So many things I never knew about life or death. So many things.”
In October a GoFundMe page was set up for Jael by her friends Melissa Lebet, Cody Haynes and Sarah Covey to fund her treatment.
A statement on the website, read: “At the end of September, Jael became very sick and diagnosed with aggressive Stage IV Rapidly Progressive Metastatic Inflammatory Breast Cancer.”
The statement continued: “It has metastasised and spread beyond the breast tissue. She has just begun chemo, but we do not know how things will play out.
“What we do know is that Jael is putting all of her energy and drive into fighting this insidious disease and can use as much support and love as possible.”
More than $18,000 (approx. £14,150) out of a $30,000 goal to fund Jael’s treatment was made on the GoFundMe page.
Jael, who starred on the eighth series of America’s Next Top Model in 2007, which was hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, also appeared in an episode of Dr Phil in 2012 to tackle her drug addiction.
This August she celebrated her sobriety on Instagram, with her writing: “I know a few things to be true: Miracles are real, recovery is possible for everyone no matter how far gone you think you are.
“We are never too broken to be put back together, service work feels better than the greatest high, sobriety makes you weirder, not normal.”
She finished: “I’d be dead if it weren’t for all the love and forgiveness I’ve been showered with by my friends and family.”
Since her passing, celebrities and fans alike have taken to social media to pay tribute to the late TV personality.
Jasmine Gonzalez, who won season eight of America’s Next Top Model wrote on Twitter: “Guys, I heard about the Jael Strauss passing today and I’m so sad about it. I wish I could have seen her once more. She was going through a whole lot.
“We don’t know for what reasons, but man was she one of the strongest I knew. My prayers are with her and her family.”
Showbiz blogger and TV presenter Perez Hilton, real name Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr, tweeted: “F**k cancer! 34! Not fair.”
Meanwhile, a fan penned: “She was so young and beautiful. We have got to find a way to beat cancer!”