EastEnders and Strictly star shares heartfelt tribute following tragic death

EastEnders star Molly Rainford has shared a heartfelt tribute following the tragic death of her 38-year old cousin.

Molly, who finished as runner-up to Hamza Yassin in Strictly Come Dancing last year, took to her Instagram account to pay her respects to Ben Azevedo, who suffered from epilepsy, scoliosis and cerebral palsy. The 22-year-old uploaded a poignant picture of the pair together, which she captioned: "Rest peacefully cousin Ben."

Molly previously revealed she was close to Ben when she was growing up and was an ambassador for St. Elizabeth's specialist and residential school in his native Hertfordshire, which closed last year. "It’s such a great place," she told the Barking and Dagenham Post in 2013, after raising funds for the facility.

READ MORE: Inside EastEnders’ Molly Rainford’s love life with Strictly co-star Tyler West

READ MORE: Strictly's Molly Rainford admits reason she 'won't support' co-star Bobby Brazier

"We thought it would be brilliant if we could raise some money so they could buy new equipment," she continued at the time, before it was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission.

Discussing the closure, Ben's mum – and Molly's auntie – Denise, told BBC: "I've got to the point where I don't know where else to go, who else to phone. I sit on the computer until three in the morning still looking for places but it's not coming up with anything at all. It's absolutely devastating – I never expected this to happen. We are all panicking."

Molly, meanwhile, recently revealed she won't be lending any Strictly support to her Albert Square pal, Bobby Brazier, who is partnered with Dianne Buswell. The actress declared that she is "Team Gu" forever, in reference to her partner last year, dancer Carlos Gu.

In a recent appearance on Lorraine, host Lorraine Kelly said: "Now, look, obviously you work with Bobby Brazier on EastEnders, of course you do, and he's in Strictly – but your heart is in another place."

But Molly confessed: Molly confessed: "It is and of course I've got to support my cast mates but I'm team Gu forever. I am." Lorraine replied: "Well of course you are, because you danced with him [for so long]" to which Molly added: "I kind of feel like his partner is my partner."

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The presenter pressed: "Is it going to be weird seeing him dance with someone else?" to which Molly confessed: "It is but I'm so excited actually, I can't wait to see what they do together. Just look at them they're so lovely!"

This year, Carlos Gu has been partnered up with Irish presenter and author Angela Scanlon who hosts such BBC shows as Your Home Made Perfect and Your Garden Made Perfect. It comes after Molly admitted she has been giving the Bobby "secret dance lessons" ahead of his appearance on the 21st series of the hugely popular dance competition.

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