Britain’s Got Talent Star Antonio ‘Popeye’ Francis’ Is Dead
Britain’s Got Talent’ star, Antonio Francis was popularly known as ‘Popeye’ who got to the 2011 semi-finals with his unusual routine, which saw him pop out his eyeballs to the beat of the music has died at the age of 54 years old.
Francis died on Saturday after a stroke and brain bleed, his family said. A family statement said Mr Francis battled health problems in the years after the show, moving to Barbados before returning to Britain.
His son Dan, who also appeared on the show in 2013, revealed he had been sleeping rough since his return to the UK and was found unconscious on the floor by a friend six days after collapsing. His family is now raising money to fund a funeral for him back in the Caribbean so he can be buried near his mother in Barbados.
His son said: ‘A week ago a family friend found him in his room on the floor unconscious where he had a stroke.
‘What’s crazy is he was there for at least six days so he’d survived for at least six days before we got him into the hospital and for the first two days he was breathing by himself.
‘This morning we woke up and I saw him take his last breath and then he stopped breathing.
‘One of my dad’s wishes which he’s been saying for the last two years if I pass I want to be buried in Barbados and that’s going to cost a crazy amount of money so what we’re doing is we’re going to try and raise as much money as possible. If we can get enough then we will send him to Barbados.
‘We’re going to have the reception in London so anyone who’s ever met my dad or who’s ever had the pleasure of being around him, you can come. It’s going to be an open funeral. But we would love to bury his body in Barbados.’
Mr. Francis Sr had suffered memory loss, a minor stroke, high blood pressure, heart failure and other organ issues, he added.
