SAHARA RAY DIES MONTHS AFTER BIRTH OF FIRST CHILD

Australian model and swimwear designer Sahara Ray has died, her family said. Her family said in a statement: “She passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital. She was so loved.” The family gave no cause of death. Ray welcomed her first child, a daughter named Snow Ray, earlier this year. She had previously dated singer Justin Bieber, with whom she was photographed on holiday in Hawaii in 2016.

Ray was the daughter of surfer Tony Ray and promoted her swimwear line on Instagram. Her account had just under 900,000 followers and also featured photographs from her life. In April, she shared a video of herself playing with Snow Ray while Bieber’s song Everything Hallelujah played. She captioned the post, “Baby snow hallelujah.” Ray and Bieber stayed at a villa during their Hawaii trip, which she documented on Snapchat.

Ray also posted a photograph beside a waterfall and a video of herself and Bieber swimming without clothes during that holiday. She was linked to actor Cody Simpson in 2015, after his relationship with model Gigi Hadid ended. In 2024, Ray said she had Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition in which the immune system attacks the nervous system. She said she developed the condition after a drunk driver hit her and that she was ill for up to two weeks.