Nicole Thea: Pregnant YouTube star, 24, and unborn son die
The influencer's mother revealed Thea and her boyfriend had named their child Reign.
Monday 13 July 2020 18:24, UK
Pregnant YouTube star Nicole Thea and her unborn son have died, her family has said.
A statement from her mother said the 24-year-old and her baby died on Saturday morning, but did not reveal how.
The London dancer and influencer, who has 180,000 Instagram followers and 90,000 on YouTube, was eight months pregnant and had been regularly keeping her fans up to date on her pregnancy, which she had described as "good".
Her mother revealed that Thea and her boyfriend, TikTok star Global Boga, 20, had named their unborn child Reign.
She said several videos her daughter had filmed before her death will be published on her YouTube channel.
One of her getting a cast of her stomach was published on the same day she died and another of a behind-the-scenes shoot of Thea getting into a bath of milk, flowers and grapefruit was published on Sunday.
Her boyfriend, a member of the street dance team Ghana Boyz, had posted a video of himself dancing with a pram early on Saturday and said in a post last week he believed his son was arriving "on a Monday".
Two weeks before Thea's death, the couple had published a video of them packing their hospital bag in collaboration with Pampers.
In the statement, her mother said: "Nicole pre-scheduled a few YouTube videos and Boga has made the decision to allow them to be aired."
She asked for privacy "because our hearts are truly broken and we are struggling to cope with what has happened".
"My beautiful baby girl Nicnac and my grandson Reign, I will miss you for the rest of my life until we meet again in eternal heaven," she added.
Thea and her boyfriend announced her pregnancy in April, saying: "God gave us the biggest blessing yet."
Fans and fellow influencers have paid tribute to Thea on social media.
Beauty blogger and talent agent Chanel Ambrose changed her Instagram profile picture to one of her friend and said Thea's death "has broken my heart so deeply".
Choreographer Sherrie Silver said she was "completely and utterly heartbroken", while Love Island star Alexandra Cane wrote: "This is heart breaking."