Todd Homme, a finalist on Lifetime's Blush: The Search for the Next Great Makeup Artist reality series, was reportedly found dead Saturday night at his home. He was 23.
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"He went to sleep basically and never woke up," Homme's mother Marianne Amster Blush-Todd-Homme-1000899.aspx">told TV Guide in a Monday report. "He was all excited about what was going on with the show. He was up all night, went to sleep during the day and he died in his sleep."
Homme was found dead by his partner Neal Krogh, according to TV Guide, which added Krogh awoke from a nap to find Homme dead. Medical examiners were subsequently unable to confirm the cause of death, which is still under investigation.
"I went to the medical examiner early today, and they took tissue samples from his organs and the doctor said they couldn't find anything wrong with him," Amster told TV Guide. "No drugs, alcohol or pills."
Homme was a contestant on Blush: The Search for the Next Great Makeup Artist, a Project Runway-like reality competition series that premiered last month and pit professional make-up artists against each other.
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He was one of three finalists remaining heading into Tuesday night's pre-taped broadcast of the competition's finale, which ended with with Nolan Makaawaawa being crowned the winner. Lifetime aired a photo tribute honoring Homme at the finale's conclusion.
"It is bittersweet winning as this has been one of the best and worst weeks of my life," Makaawaawa said in a statement released today. "The show was an incredible experience. Winning was a dream come true because after ten years in this industry, I have put so much into my craft. It has already done so much for my career and as great as that is, I know I couldn’t have done it without my best friend Todd by my side -- his talent truly inspired me to dig deep and he will be missed."
"Todd Homme was such a wonderful human being and he shined both professionally as a make-up artist, and as a person who was so thrilled about what lied ahead in his life and his work," fellow Blush contestant Maureen "Mo" Lewit said in a separate statement obtained by TV Guide. "His spirit of determination and his friendship will be sorely missed."
Amster said she plans to donate Homme's makeup and art supplies because her son was "very much for helping people that didn't have anything."
"It's devastating to us. We're in shock right now," Amster told TV Guide. "He was born a month and a half early, walked at ten months and never sat down. He was always helping people and everyone calls him a guardian angel and he just loved everybody."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio