George Michael's 'cursed' family was torn apart by eerily similar deaths
A family photo shows a radiant George Michael beaming as he enjoys dinner with his beloved sister Melanie Panayiotou, mum Lesley Angold Panayiotou and dad Kyriacos 'Jack' Panayiotou.
In the image, George grins widely as his parents gaze at him with adoration in their eyes.
But from that idyllic scene, only dad Jack is still alive, left grieving for his family who died in tragic circumstances.
George was devastated when his mum died from cancer aged just 60 in 1997 shortly after he lost his first love, Brazilian Anselmo Feleppa, to AIDS.
Her death plunged the late singer - who is the subject of a new Channel 4 documentary, George Michael: Outed - into a deep depression as he struggled to work through his overwhelming grief.
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The Wham star, his sister Melanie Panayiotou, mum Lesley Angold Panayiotou and dad Kyriacos "Jack" Panayiotou"In terms of coming close to saying I don’t want to live, that would have been after my Mum died," he once told The Guardian.
"I had this overwhelming feeling that the best was behind me. I so loved my mum, and respected her."
Then on Christmas Day 2016, news broke that that shocked the world - George had been found dead in bed at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
Aged just 53, a postmortem later found the star - who fought for years to overcome his addictions - had died from heart disease and a fatty liver.
The iconic star's lifeless body was found by live-in boyfriend Fadi Fawaz around lunch time on December 25 when he failed to surface.
George and Fadi were in a relationship from 2012 until George's death in 2016According to a statement released by Fadi on Instagram in 2018, the pair had fought the day before and slept in separate beds.
And when George failed to come down from his room on Christmas Day, Fadi said he presumed he was still avoiding him - until he noticed that the position of George's door hadn't changed.
Of making his gut-wrenching discovery, he wrote on Instagram: "I decided to go and see if he was in... I could see that his right hand was up to his face, with his fist clenched, with his fingers curled against his cheek.
"His face looked normal. I saw that his legs were together but looked tense under the covers.
"I touched him, but he was cold. I was shaking him and saying, 'George, George' but he was dead."
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Fadi released a statement about George's passing on Instagram (Instagram)George was laid to rest at Highgate Cemetery beside his beloved mum Lesley, leaving behind his father and sisters Melanie and Yioda.
But exactly three years to the day of George's tragic passing, Melanie was found dead at her home in Highgate, north London, which had once belonged to George.
A postmortem revealed the 55 year old died as a result of diabetic ketoacidosis caused by lack of insulin and high blood sugar.
As well as being diabetic, Melanie - who was extremely close to Michael and joined him on tour with Wham! - was also found to be suffering from hypertensive heart disease, obesity and bronchopneumonia.
Initially, sources claimed the grief-stricken hairdresser had died from a 'broken heart'.
George's sister Melanie was found dead exactly three years later (PIP-Landmark Media)
George was devastated by the death of boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa (Sunday Mirror)A source told The Sun: "She had been living as a recluse and only really went out to the hairdressers and post office and occasionally with her older sister Yioda.
"She stayed indoors, had shopping delivered and rarely left the house."
Andros Georgiou, cousin and close friend of George from childhood, told The Mirror he believes that such a cycle of tragedy must be down to a 'curse'.
"George was cursed. He lost the love of his life, Anselmo.
"Then his mum died. That was his thing, he always used to say, 'What have I done?'"
Referring to Melanie's death, he continued: "It's impossible, how could this happen? To die the same day as your brother, who had died three years before.
"I think the family is cursed. I can't get my head round it."
Melanie is believed to have been buried with her mum and brother in their unmarked tomb.
* George Michael: Outed airs Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 March at 9pm on Channel 4
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