An inquest has been opened into the death of former X Factor hopeful Amy Burdett – known to fans of the show as Ariel Burdett – following her death at the age of 38.
Earlier this week, unconfirmed reports based on a
Facebook post from a friend of the former reality TV contestant suggested that Burdett had died.
At the opening of the inquest, it was confirmed she was found at a Leeds address on 12 November.A coroner also told of how employees of her landlord had been sent to the property a week earlier amid concerns, but received no response, as reported by the Wakefield Express.
West Yorkshire Police have said there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.
Burdett appeared on The X Factor in 2008, when she was 26, and went on to have one of the show’s most famous auditions ever.
Describing herself as a “holistic vocal coach”, she clashed with judges Simon Cowell and Cheryl Tweedy when they disapproved of the original musical piece she performed for them.
She was eventually removed by security after branding the judges “stupid”.
A video of Ariel’s audition – subtitled “WARNING: Is Ariel Burdett The Angriest Woman In The World?” – remains on X Factor’s
YouTube page, and is currently on more than three million viewers, while a fan-upload of the same clip has upwards of seven million.
In more recent years, the singer uploaded new
music onto YouTube, under the moniker Arabella Starchild, describing her “Ariel” persona as a “character”.
“Ariel will not be seen again. I made that decision long ago,” she wrote in a comment under one of her videos. “There is no place for her and her hair has been destroyed. She was a one off.”
In another comment, Burdett also said she would never again audition for The X Factor, branding the show “exploitative” and “punitive”.