Big Brother star Ben Duncan has died aged 45 after falling seven floors from The Trafalgar St. James hotel.
The socialite, also known for his association with Prince William and Kate Middleton at St Andrews University, appeared on several reality TV shows over the years, including Big Brother season 11 on Channel 4 in 2010.
It is understood he plunged around 100 feet from the rooftop bar of the five-star Hilton hotel on Thursday night.
Metropolitan Police were dispatched to investigate reports of a ‘man on the roof’ after which he was found dead.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: ‘Officers responded to concerns for a man on the roof of a building in Cockspur Street, Westminster at 23:02 hours on Thursday, 30 October.
‘The man sadly fell from height. Despite the best efforts from the London Ambulance service, he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
‘His death is unexpected but non-suspicious.’
London Ambulance service was also called to the scene ,and a spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 10:59pm on Thursday 30 October to reports of an incident on Spring Gardens, City of Westminster.
‘We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer, paramedics in fast response cars and paramedics from our hazardous area response team (HART).
‘Very sadly, despite the best efforts of our crews, a man was pronounced dead at the scene.’
In a tribute on Facebook, broadcaster Mike Hollingsworth wrote: ‘My dear, dear friend Benjamin (Ben) Duncan has left us.
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‘He lived life as Peter Pan – the boy who never grew up. He will be sorely missed by his many, many friends, who grew to love his charm, his wit, his infectious laugh and his innate sense of style. The world is a poorer place for his passing. RIP Benji.’
‘Ben was always the life and soul of the party. Although he appeared on reality TV shows, Ben’s true passions were politics and music.
‘In recent years, he had become more reclusive – and had struggled with insomnia. It’s truly devastating that he’s gone so soon,’ a friend told Daily Mail.
He appeared in the same season of Big Brother as Josie Gibson, who went on to win. Other reality shows the late Duncan appeared in also include Come Dine With Me, Ladette to Lady and Celebrity Coach Trip.
Speaking about his time with Prince William and Kate at university, he said: ‘Because we’d had Will and Kate in our midst, we had royal protection officers swarming the place.
‘We knew that they had hit it off and we knew that something was happening, but they were just left alone to get on with it,’ he said in 2010.
Metro has reached out to the Metropolitan Police for comment.
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