Former X Factor contestant Ariel Burdett has died at the age of 38, according to her friend.
Ariel, real name Amy, appeared on the show in 2008 and famously ripped off her badge declaring she was a “human being, not a number”.
Her performance was one of the most memorable in the series, with Simon Cowell telling her, “That was a complete and utter nightmare.”
“The idea behind it was that you get to understand that every line was a different style,” Ariel replied.
Simon answered: “I don’t care.”
Ariel, holistic voice coach, said she was a “specialist, not a generalist” and her performance was “not something to be liked” but something “to be understood from an academic perspective”.
Cheryl, who was a judge at the time added: “If I came to you for holistic [coaching] I would be scared of you, you’re actually really quite scary.”
“The way you walked over to me I thought we were going to have a scrap.”
Ariel retorted that Cheryl had “never been a rock singer then”.
She was then escorted out by security, but not before telling the judges to “shove a bit of metal right up your [bleep]”.
Simon concluded: “She is the angriest woman in the world, she is awful.”
Ariel, who changed her name to Arabella Starchild after the show, died earlier this month but her cause of death is not yet known.
In the post announcing her death on Monday, friend Reza Bagheri wrote on Monday: “Unfortunately Ara has passed away.”
Another poster wrote: ‘It is with great sadness that I post this, as I have only just found out myself. A some time member of the moot, Amy Burdett aka Arabella Starchild passed to the Summerlands earlier this month.”
One tribute read: “Ariel Burdett is gone. What a loss.”
Another said: “I can’t believe that she died… rest in peace, Ariel Burdett.”