Donyelle Jones died at the age of 46.
The reality TV star passed away on Tuesday after a long battle with breast cancer. The news was announced on Jones’ Instagram account.
The message read: “Today at 8:34 am Donyelle Denise Wilson passed away. A wife. A daughter. A sister. A friend. And a warrior who fought cancer every day she was here.”
“Her spirit never darkened. Her heart never hardened. And even during the storm, she never lost her smile,” the post added.
She died nearly a decade after her diagnosis with stage 3C breast cancer, which later developed into stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
Donyelle, a hip-hop and jazz dancer, competed on season 2 of the reality dance series SYTYCD in 2006, finishing third behind winner Benji Schwimmer and runner-up Travis Wall.
A week before the announcement of her death, a video was shared with fans of Donyelle sitting in a chair with tubes in her nostrils.
“Hello everyone, Donyelle Denise here. It has gotten to the point where I have started to get my affairs in order. Most of you know that I am currently in hospice care and have done everything possible to extend my time here in this dimension. At this point I have surrendered to whatever God’s will is,” you said.
The video detailed how her liver had ‘stopped functioning’, although she hoped for a ‘miraculous recovery’.
“I am daring. And I have to believe that you can do it, but I am also conscious enough to know that I have received ten years of miracles. What more can I ask for?” Donyelle Jones concluded at the time.
