{"id":562,"date":"2026-09-17T14:48:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/?p=562"},"modified":"2026-09-17T14:48:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:48:42","slug":"first-ever-the-voice-winner-found-dead-at-age-43","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/?p=562","title":{"rendered":"First-ever \u2018The Voice\u2019 winner found dead at age 43"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ben Saunders, the first winner of \u201cThe Voice of Holland,\u201d has\u00a0died at the age of 43.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The singer, who was a contestant in 2011 on the Dutch version of the reality show that has since found success in countries around the world, including the US, was found dead at the Rijkerswoerdse Plassen recreational lake in the\u00a0Netherlands\u00a0Tuesday afternoon,\u00a0the local outlet De Telegraaf reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outlet reported that Saunders was found during a search for a man with \u201cvarious tattoos on his head and neck, on his arms and hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ben<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A cause of death wasn\u2019t immediately revealed, and police ruled out foul play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saunders\u2019 partner, Juanita, and their 9-year-old son, Benji, mourned the TV personality\u00a0in a heartbreaking Instagram statement\u00a0Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo quote our son Benji: Mom, I have a hole in my heart that is only one percent full,\u201d Juanita wrote. \u201cThis loss leaves an indescribably huge void in our lives. We earnestly ask everyone to respect our privacy during this incredibly difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juanita invited fans to pay their respects at the tattoo studio she owned with Saunders, Craftman\u2019s Tattoo, in Arnhem on Saturday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saunders was a tattoo artist with more than 25 years of experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ben<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Ben\u2019s brother, Dean Saunders, addressed the reality star\u2019s tragic passing in an emotional statement\u00a0shared via Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sweet little brother passed away today,\u201d he wrote, alongside a throwback photo of himself and Ben in red sweaters. \u201cI have never experienced such pain as I feel right now. What a terrible day for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to learn to live with this and I hope this will be handled respectfully. Ben had a beautiful, beautiful family and a family that loves him very much and always will \u2026 Ben is in my heart and he will stay there forever\u00a0he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ben<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marco Borsato, a former \u201cVoice\u201d coach,\u00a0mourned Ben\u00a0by posting a song of them singing a duet to Borsato\u2019s 2011 song, \u201cDochters,\u201d on the competition series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201che captioned the sentimental clip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, he shared a follow-up tribute with a photo of himself and Ben on the series, writing, \u201cDear, special man, my heart is crying!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ben<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t find words for the emptiness you leave behind,\u201d he continued, also penning a message to Ben\u2019s family, \u201cDear Juanita, friends and family, lots of strength in processing this enormous loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ben won the Netherlands\u2019 version of \u201cThe Voice\u201d \u2014 where the show originated \u2014 during the first season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show\u2019s success led to the franchise expanding globally with 150 adaptations as of 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Saunders, the first winner of \u201cThe Voice of Holland,\u201d has\u00a0died at the age of 43. The singer, who was a contestant in 2011 on the Dutch version of the reality show that has since found success in countries around the world, including the US, was found dead at the Rijkerswoerdse Plassen recreational lake in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":564,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562\/revisions\/564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alirthmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}