Reality show twins found dead ‘after note found’
January 10, 2020
Image copyright Family handout Twin brothers Billy and Joe Smith, from the Channel 4 reality TV show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, were found dead in a Kent country lane after a relative found a suicide note, an inquest heard.
The pair, who were both tree surgeons, were found next to each other in Dibden Lane near Sevenoaks on 28 December.
They had celebrated their 32nd birthdays about two weeks earlier.
No family members were present for the short, preliminary hearing, as an inquest opened in Maidstone.
Senior coroner Roger Hatch said: “I understand the circumstances to be that a call to police was made by a family member having discovered a suicide note.”
Joe was a father-of-two and married to Charmaine Smith, while Billy was single, the hearing was told.
A full inquest is still to be held but no date has yet been set.
A Facebook memorial page, which now has more than 4,800 followers, said the brothers “came into this world together and went into the next together”.
In a video tribute, Paddy Doherty, one of the biggest names on the reality show in 2014 and winner of Celebrity Big Brother, said the deaths were a “terrible tragedy”.
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