Miriam Rivera: There's Something About Miriam and Big Brother star dies aged 38
By Áine Ryan|
Miriam Rivera, star of the 2004 reality TV show There's Something About Miriam, has died.
Rivera passed away in February at the age of 38 after reportedly taking her own life.
Close friend Jeanett Ørtoft tells 9Honey Celebrity she learned about the model and reality TV star's death when Rivera's husband, Daniel Cuervo, contacted her.
"He delivered the sad news and sent me pictures from her funeral," says Ørtoft. "I cried for days and just couldn't believe it. It must be terrible for her family as they also lost her brother some years back. Some say she was killed for going against human trafficking. Others that she took her own life. Both causes are as terrible."
Cuervo, who is based in New York City, told the Daily Mail that he believes her death was "passed off as suicide" and suspects she met with foul play as her body was cremated before he ever saw it.
Ørtoft and Rivera met in 2011 when the TV star lived in Copenhagen and bonded due to the fact they were both in reality TV shows in 2004. They were in touch just weeks before Rivera's death.
"The last time I was on the phone with her, a few weeks before her death, she told me she was just about to finish a degree and she was looking forward to that," says Ørtoft. "Then she wanted to write a book about her life. She wanted to meet in London and celebrate her birthday only with me. Her last words on the phone were: "I can't wait to see you again, amor!"
Ørtoft is currently in Mexico. She had intended on meeting Rivera there to create more memories and had been excited about their reunion.
Rivera was best known for her show There's Something About Miriam when she was 21. The show — which later aired in Australia on Network 10 — featured six men competing to win her heart before learning in the final episode that she was transgender.
The show was later sued by the men involved.
Rivera also guest-starred on Season 4 of Big Brother Australia in 2004.
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