STRICTLY Come Dancing star Molly Rainford is heartbroken after the death of a beloved family member.<\/p>\n

The EastEnders actress, 22, revealed that her cousin has passed away.<\/p>\n

"Rest peacefully cousin Ben," she wrote on instagram<\/span> last night, alongside a snap<\/span> of the pair.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

The poignant snap showed a younger Molly smiling alongside her cousin Ben Azevedo, who was in his wheelchair.<\/p>\n

Ben had cerebral palsy and epilepsy<\/span> and was 38 years old when he passed away.<\/p>\n

Molly is an ambassador for St Elizabeth's in Hertfordshire, a specialist school and residential centre where Ben had lived.<\/p>\n

Molly and Ben were close growing up and he cheered her on when she competed on Britain's Got Talent, aged 11, back in 2012.<\/p>\n

Molly reached the final of Strictly Come Dancing last year, and her fame has soared ever since.<\/p>\n

She might not have taken home the\u00a0Glitterball trophy, but she did manage to walk away with something equally as good, after friendship turned to love with fellow contestant\u00a0Tyler West, 27, during the\u00a0Strictly\u00a0<\/em>tour.<\/p>\n

For many people,\u00a0Strictly\u00a0would have been the first time they had seen\u00a0<\/em>CBBC\u00a0<\/em>presenter Molly, but she\u2019s become a whole lot more famous after landing the role of\u00a0Anna Knight\u00a0on\u00a0EastEnders.<\/p>\n

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while landing a role in a primetime soap is a big deal, she actually got her\u00a0break more than a decade ago, aged 11, as a contestant on\u00a0Britain\u2019s Got Talent\u00a0\u2014 and has\u00a0Simon Cowell\u00a0to thank for her whole career.<\/p>\n

Although she didn\u2019t win the talent show, Simon was so impressed with her singing, he offered her a scholarship to the famous\u00a0Sylvia Young Theatre School, which\u00a0Jesy Nelson\u00a0and\u00a0Rita Ora\u00a0also attended.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was what kicked everything off,\u201d Molly explains. \u201cThe scholarship actually was the first of its kind. I feel so lucky, because I could get my education and still pursue my passion.<\/p>\n

"Then I starred in\u00a0<\/em>Nova Jones\u00a0[a CBBC show about an intergalactic pop superstar who goes on a tour through space], which was amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe that something that was my little hobby at the beginning has turned into my career.<\/p>\n

"It feels great, and like such a nice, natural progression. I\u2019ve gone from the CBBC world into the BBC. It was like I graduated from\u00a0university.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nSource: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STRICTLY Come Dancing star Molly Rainford is heartbroken after the death of a beloved family member. The EastEnders actress, 22, revealed that her cousin has passed away. "Rest peacefully cousin Ben," she wrote on instagram last night, alongside a snap of the pair. The poignant snap showed a younger Molly smiling alongside her cousin Ben Azevedo, who was in his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n