Derek Acorah has died at the age of 69, his devastated wife Gwen has announced.
The self-styled spiritual medium, who starred in Celebrity Big Brother and the Most Haunted series, died last night.
He had been treated in intensive care following a "brief illness".
In a Facebook tribute, Gwen wrote: "Farewell my love! I will miss you forever! I’m devastated to announce that my beloved husband Derek has passed away after a very brief illness.
"Thank you so much to everybody who has supported me – I can never thank you enough."
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In her statement, his wife of 24 years also took aim at a "vile couple" who "hounded" her husband during his dying hours.
She wrote: "To the vile couple who hounded him for responses to their ridiculous campaign whilst he was in Intensive Care in a coma, I hope you have the decency to hang your heads in shame.
"I have things to deal with now but I won’t forget nor will I forgive what you have done!"
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From contacting spirits to making Jordan Davies STRIP: Derek Acorah's CBB journey with his spirit guide Sam
Derek was born in Bootle, Merseyside, in January 1950.
He shot to fame on Most Haunted and also went on to present Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns.
In November 2009, Acorah featured in Michael Jackson: The Search for His Spirit and attempted to contact the late singer's ghost.
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He also once claimed to have received a message from Madeleine McCann through a spirit guide, before apologising to her parents after mass outrage.
Derek went onto appear in the 20th series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2017. He finished fourth in the series.
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Before finding fame as a medium, Derek tried his hand as a professional footballer with Liverpool FC but was released by manager Bill Shankly before ever playing a first-team game.
He went on to play in Australia before making his first TV appearance in 1996 with Granada, going on to appear on Psychic Livetime.
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His greatest fame came from the six-year Most Haunted series with Yvette Fielding – in which he was contacted by 'spirits'.
Despite scepticism he always insisted the show contained "no acting".
Derek revealed he had a ghostly guide named Sam who helped him through his life decisions.
He claimed to have first met Sam in a previous life, when he was an Ethiopian boy.
Derek told the Nottingham Post : "I first met my spirit guide, Sam, in a previous lifetime when I was an Ethiopian boy and Sam was a friend of the family. This is about 2,038 years ago.
"Sam was an oracle with psychic powers who travelled from village to village. When my village was attacked by some marauding invaders, I heard the screaming and I scampered away. When it settled, I crawled back to find my family had been massacred. Two days and nights passed before Sam arrived and shouted my name out.
"From then on, I travelled with him."
In this life, Derek said he was introduced to Sam by his grandmother when he was a child.
She was working as a medium.
He then realised they'd already met after a series of vivid dreams and flashbacks.
Sam protected Derek from evil spirits and oversaw his dealings with friendly ones, he said.
And although Sam could easily tell Derek next week's lottery numbers, the medium insisted he would never abuse Sam's guidance like that.
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