Bling Empire's Anna Shay has died at age 62

Anna Shay, billionaire and fan favourite in Netflix’s hit reality series Bling Empire, has died unexpectedly from a stroke. She was 62.

“It saddens our hearts to announce that Anna Shay, a loving mother, grandmother, charismatic star, and our brightest ray of sunshine, has passed away at the early age of 62 from a stroke,” said Shay’s family in a statement, which was reported by local media.

“Anna taught us many life lessons on how not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the finer things. Her impact on our lives will be forever missed but never forgotten.”

The Los Angeles heiress left behind her son, Mr Kenny Kemp, who is in his 20s and briefly appeared in the series.

Some local media reports said that Shay died on Monday, but other reports said that it is not clear when she died.

Shay was part of the Bling Empire cast when the series premiered in 2021 and appeared in all three seasons. The last season was aired in October 2022.

The series was cancelled recently and no reason was given.

The series featured a group of wealthy Asian Americans in Los Angeles, including Singaporean reality television star Kane Lim, model Kevin Kreider, fashionista Christine Chiu, DJ star Kim Lee and entrepreneur Kelly Mi Li.

Through the series, viewers were given a glimpse of their luxurious lifestyles.

Shay was born in Japan to American businessman Edward Shay and socialite Ai Oizumi Shay who was half-Japanese and half-Russian.

She reportedly spent the first eight years of her life in Tokyo with her family before they moved to Los Angeles.

Shay reportedly amassed a fortune after she and her brother sold their father’s company, Pacific Architects and Engineers, after his death. They were said to have sold the company in 2006 for US$1.2 billion (S$1.6 billion).

Before Bling Empire premiered, the socialite kept a mostly private life.

She was married and divorced four times and never revealed the identity of her husbands, according to French magazine Marie Claire.

In 2021, she told American magazine People that she was not expecting Bling Empire to garner so much attention.

“Did I expect the show to be successful? No. I wasn’t even expecting to be in front of the camera. I’m very shy and I went along with whatever situation was happening,” she said. “I was just being me.”

Shay’s fellow co-stars expressed their condolences after her death.

In a lengthy post on Instagram, Lim said: “You had a nonchalance about you that was mesmerising and captivated audience around the world. I was lucky to get to know the real you, and not many knew about our friendship off camera. We had a real friendship and though the show made things or even portrayed us a little crazy at times you knew who I really was as a person and had my back in the end.”

Kevin also wrote on Instagram: “You never know when your last goodbye will be. So unexpected and wished when I saw you last for lunch I would have taken a moment to smell the roses and had one last adventure with you.”

Text: Amanda Lee/The Straits Times