Alexandra Burke announces death of her 'funny and loving' mum Melissa Bell

Alexandra Burke took to Twitter to confirm the death of her Soul II Soul star mother at just 53 years old.

The Strictly Come Dancing contestant, who will taking to the floor in the upcoming series, said her mum would have wanted her to continue competing on the show.

Alexandra shared the sad news with her 639k followers on Twitter, writing: 'Mummy has always been my biggest supporter and was over the moon when I told her I was doing Strictly.'

The star went on to say: 'It was always a dream of hers that I would one day be part of the show and I know that she would have wanted me to carry on xx'

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formal statement from the Burke family confirmed that Melissa died on August 28th and paid tribute to her 'unconditional love, support, charisma, strength and courage.'

The statement, posted on Twitter, ended with 'we are eternally proud & thankful to call her our mummy'.

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was the former lead singer of R&B act Soul II Soul. She suffered kidney failure, and struggled to attend Alexandra's live performances during her time on The X Factor in 2008.

In 2016, Alexandra asked fans to pray for her mother, revealing that she had 'gone through so much this year with her health and I mean it when I say she is the strongest woman I know'.

Metro reported that Alexandra revealed previously that she tried to donate a kidney for her mother, but when doctors revealed it may impact her chances to conceive a child, her mother turned her down.

'Mum made the choice and shut down the discussion because the doctors said it could mean I wouldn't be able to conceive,' revealed Alexandra.

'She didn't want to restrict me from having my own life. But I was willing to adopt because I want to do that anyway.'