Instant Hotel star Shay Razaei dies, aged 33

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 3d

Mikey Gelo confirms the death of his Instant Hotel teammate Shay Razaei from unknown causes at the age of 33.

Instant Hotel star Shay Razaei has died at the age of 33, her friend Mikey Gelo has confirmed.

The pair appeared together on the first season of the Australian reality show, which first aired on Channel 7 in 2017 and subsequently gained a global fanbase after being picked up by Netflix.

In recent days Razaei's Instagram account has been flooded with messages of condolences from fans and, speaking to the Daily Mail, Gelo revealed that Razaei passed away two weeks ago but dismissed the allegation that she had taken her own life.

"I do not believe it was online bullying, I have heard from multiple sources she was using drugs heavily and some other contestants of the show were very worried of her behaviour," he told the newspaper.

"I do not believe she is the type that would take her own life intentionally. In fact, she loved the online trolls and would often instigate them and never block abusive accounts.

"I had not spoken to her for years since the show, but was hopeful she would get better one day. I'm sure with medication this could have been prevented.

"I had a bad feeling this would happen one day. It's very sad to finally get the news I expected. But even though we had not spoken for years I will always cherish the fun times."

Razaei's final Instagram picture, a selfie of her smiling to the camera, was posted on May 31.