Mario Falcone has paid tribute to fellow The Only Way Is Essex star Mick Norcross following his sudden death at the age 57.
The dad-of-one has revealed that Mick was the one person from the ITV2 reality show to reach out when he was feeling suicidal following his split from Lucy Mecklenburgh.
Mario, 32, who starred in TOWIE between 2011 and 2018, admitted that Mick was there for him after he tried taking his own life eight years ago.
Sharing a photo of Mick on his Instagram, Mario wrote: "This one is very hard to accept. I had so much respect and admiration for this man.
"I had the honour of filming with him a lot on TOWIE and also to be good friends away from the show.
"When I went through my battle with depression and suicide you were the only one from the whole show that reached out and cared about me."
Mario continued: "You were someone I looked up to and held in the highest regard. The thought of you going through the same pain and emotional darkness I did breaks my heart. You will be sorely missed by so many!
TOWIE's Mick Norcross shares tragic 'at the end' tweet hours before his death
"Thank you for the many memories in the sugar hut, the wild parties, the advice and dropping me off to get my R8.
"The world has lost a very good man. RIP Mick Norcross," he added.
Mick – whose son is Towie star Kirk – was found dead at his home in Brentwood, Essex, on Thursday.
Essex Police said in a statement: "We were called to an address in Brentwood Road, Bulphan shortly before 3.15pm on Thursday 21 January.
"Sadly, a man inside was pronounced dead. His death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner."
At 7.17am on Thursday, Mick took to Twitter to post a message of positivity telling his 500,000 followers: "At the end remind yourself that you did the best you could. And that is good enough."
The post was met with a series of messages from concerned fans.
At 6.50pm on Thursday evening, Mick's friend and TOWIE co-star Mario Falcone replied with a broken heart emoji.
Mario later added: "RIP my friend. You were the perfect gentlemen and I am thankful I got the privilege of having you in my life."
Elliot Wright, who appeared on TOWIE alongside his brother Mark Wright, also replied to Mick's tweet with a heartbroken emoji.
Shortly after, Ex On The Beach star Jess Impiazzi tweeted: "Thank you for the memories – still can’t believe what I’m hearing always been so supportive! Will be sorely missed."
Jess appeared alongside Mick on ITV series The Big Fish Off.
Mick's friend Mark Hassell tweeted: "I truly can’t believe this. Its so sad. He was such an amazing man.
"Truly down to earth, welcoming and graceful. He always treated me so well."
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