Denise van Outen, who has provided the voiceover for The Only Way Is Essex since its launch in 2010, has paid tribute to former cast member Mick Norcross following his sudden death last week.

The 57-year-old businessman was found dead at his Essex home last Thursday, hours after posting a worrying final message to Twitter which read: "At the end remind yourself that you did the best you could. And that is good enough."

Van Outen has interacted with most of the cast off screen during the lifetime of the ITVBe reality show and in an interview with The Express, she described ex-Sugar Hut owner Norcross - star of the first few series - as "a real gentleman".

"I wouldn't say I was really close but he was always very lovely to me," she said.

"I had been to Sugar Hut on a few occasions and he was always a real gentleman and sporadically he would message me on social media and stuff and just send nice messages.

"He sent me a really nice message about my show in London, it's really sad."

Norcross's exact cause of death has yet to be disclosed although Essex Police have confirmed that there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances at play.