TORONTO – Former MasterChef finalist Joshua Marks took his life Friday in Chicago – making him the third former participant in a Gordon Ramsay series to commit suicide.
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, Marks died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The Chicago Tribune reports the 26-year-old – the runner-up in season three of MasterChef –battled mental illness.
In July, Marks was arrested for assaulting two University of Chicago police officers in a bizarre incident in which he reportedly claimed he was possessed by Ramsay, who made him a god.
He was due in court Nov. 6 to face three felony charges in connection to the altercation.
Two other people who appeared on a Ramsay-hosted series have taken their own lives.
Joseph Cerniglia jumped to his death from New York’s George Washington Bridge in September 2009, two years after appearing on Kitchen Nightmares. In an eerie coincidence, host Ramsay had told Cerniglia on the show: “Your business is about to f**king swim down the Hudson.”
Rachel Brown, a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen, shot herself in May 2007 inside her home.
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