Britain's Got Talent semi-finalist and fan favourite Antonio 'Popeye' Francis has sadly passed away after suffering a stroke. He was 54. His family confirmed that the reality show competitor passed away on Saturday in a message, with his son Dan Francis saying: "A week ago a family friend found him in his room on the floor unconscious where he had a stroke. What's crazy is he was there for at least six days so he'd survived for at least six days before we got him into the hospital and for the first two days he was breathing by himself. This morning we woke up and I saw him take his last breath and then he stopped breathing."
Antonio reached the semi-finals of BGT back in 2011 with his impressive talent of being able to pop his eyes out of the sockets while moving them to the beat of music. According to Dan, the reality show star would like to be laid to rest in Barbados, where he moved after appearing on the show. He explained: "One of my dad's wishes which he's been saying for the last two years [is] if I pass I want to be buried in Barbados, and that's going to cost a crazy amount of money so what we're doing is we're going to try and raise as much money as possible." The fundraising page has already reached the £1,500 point, and hopes to raise £5,000 for the funeral costs.
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Fans were quick to pay tribute to Antonio, with one writing: "RIP to Antonio Francis who made it into the semi finals of BGT in 2011," while another added: "What a legend." According to his family, Antonio had struggled with ill health for some time, including high blood pressure, heart failure and memory loss. He had also previously suffered a stroke.
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