Darius Campbell Danesh dated Jacqui Ainsley before she married Madonna’s ex Guy Ritchie

Former Pop Idol contestant and theatre star Darius Campbell Danesh was found dead in his US apartment room at the age of 41 on August 11.

The singer shot to fame on the reality show in 2002, with that lifechanging year also seeing him embark on is first public romance, with model Jacqui Ainsley.

A heartbroken Darius later described their breakup as ‘painful’, admitting she was was ‘the right girl’ for him when they split after two years together.

Darius and rising star of the modelling world Jacqui met on the set of his music video for his number one single Colourblind in 2002. 

Jacqui starred as his love interest in the clip which sees the singer thrown out of a car in the Spanish countryside before he stumbles upon the stranded model. 

Nine months after they met, Darius saw Jacqui at an airport about to jet off for a modelling gig and decided to make a romantic gesture.

Unable to get through the crowds to her, he instead managed with the help of a security guard to slip a CD copy of Colourblind into a Gucci handbag he had bought for her.

After two years together the pair eventually parted ways due to conflicting work schedules as Jacqui’s modelling career soared and she took on work in Hong Kong.

In an interview a year after their split Darius explained that the pair ‘met too young’, telling the Daily Record: ‘We loved each other when we broke up and that made it so painful because there was no third party involved.

‘It was a very complex break up and I still adore her. But so much is going on in my life.’ 

Jacqui went on to marry Madonna’s ex-husband Guy Ritchie in 2015.

The couple raise three children together: Rafael, ten, Rivka, nine, and Levi, seven.

Guy was previously married to Madonna for eight years from 2000 until 2008; the exes share children David, 16, and Rocco, 22.

Darius moved to the US after splitting from Jacqui and found love with Canadian actress Natasha Henstridge, whose films include sci-fi hit Species.

The couple, who began dating in 2004, married in 2011 at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California, but later filed for divorce in 2013. 

After a brief reconciliation in 2016, their divorce was finalised in 2018. He previously told the Scottish Herald: ‘That relationship was certainly not without its ups and downs. Over the course of 12 years, we broke up many times and had a period of six months apart.

‘It was often a long-distance relationship for half of it. That in itself was an amazing experience, but a painful one. When you love someone you want to be with them.’ 

The couple never had children, although Darius did enjoy his role as step-father to Natasha’s two son’s Tristan River, 23, and Asher Sky, 21, who she shares with ex-husband Damian Chapa. 

During his on/off relationship with his wife, Darius was spotted enjoying a date with Daisy Lowe in May 2016, with the pair having met through her dad Gavin Rossdale. 

He told The Sun on Sunday at the time: ‘There was a shift that happened a few months ago where we thought we’d go from friends to dating.’

The pictures were taken a few days before a source close to Daisy told the MailOnline that she had split from Thomas Cohen, widower of Peaches Geldof.

‘Daisy and Thomas split about a month ago. It’s all very amicable, they had lots of fun and a great time together. It just sort of fizzled out and had run its course’, the source told the MailOnline exclusively.

Darius later admitted that the pair were better off as friends and a spokesman told MailOnline: ‘They were friends, and decided after a few dates that they were better off staying as just friends.’

He seen kissing his ex-wife Natasha a few weeks later in August 2016.