Joanne Bogella Passes Away!

Former American Idol contestant passed away this weekend.

Tragic circumstances happened to singer/entertainer Joanne Bogella. We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to the family of Bogella.

She was signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Miami and LA. She was the first winner of Mo'Nique's Fat Chance pageant as "Miss F.A.T." in 2005 and a top 24 contestant on the seventh season of American Idol in 2008. Borgella died October 18, 2014, due to a rare form of endometrial cancer that had spread to her brain.

Borgella shared a video alerting her fans that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Through a series of videos, Borgella continued to update those following her journey. "It's a rare case because it's spread to my chest," Borgella shared during her first video, "but it's really not about a stage [of disease]. God is with me and I feel his presence every day. I just wanted to share this information with everyone to let them know what I'm going through and I'm going to update everyone every week as much as I can."

Borgella shared that she was suffering through very painful headaches and, upon going to the emergency room to figure out what was going on, she found out that the cancer spread to her brain. Borgella died on October 18, 2014 at 5:45 a.m.

She was 32.

Borgella, of Haitian descent, was originally from Oyster Bay Cove, Long Island, New York. At the age of 13 she attended Union School in Haiti where her father, Dr. Joel Borgella, ran for President in the 2006 presidential elections. Her father is the founder of Radio Tropicale, the first international Haitian radio station. Borgella went on to attend private school at the Academy of St. Joseph's in Long Island for her last two years of high school and graduated in 2000. Her mother's name is Danielle Ford.