Sara Lee, winner of Season 6 of WWE’s “Tough Enough” reality series, is dead at the age of 30, her mother announced Thursday.
“It is with heavy hearts we wanted to share that our Sara Weston has gone to be with Jesus,” Terri Lee wrote in a post on social media. “We are all in shock and arrangements are not complete. We ask that you respectfully let our family mourn.”
No cause of death was given.
“WWE is saddened to learn of the passing of Sara Lee,” the wrestling outfit wrote in a statement shared on Twitter late Thursday night. “As a former ‘Tough Enough’ winner, Lee served as an inspiration to many in the sports-entertainment world. WWE offers its heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and fans.”
Lee married fellow WWE wrestler Cory James Weston, who worked under the stage name Wesley Blake, in 2017. They shared two children, daughter Piper and son Brady.
On Tuesday, Lee posted to Instagram that she was recovering from a sinus infection.
“Celebrating finally being healthy enough to go to the gym 2 days in a row,” she wrote. “First ever sinus infection kicked my butt.”
Lee earned a one-year contract from the wrestling outfit after her 2015 performance, but was released in Sept. of 2016. She went on to wrestle on the independent circuit.
Fellow wrestler Bull James organized a GoFundMe for Lee’s family.
“We’re all shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Tough Enough winner Sara Lee,” James wrote on the fundraising page. “As her loving husband, Cory, picks up the pieces and continues to raise their 3 children, the last thing anyone in that position wants to be worried about is money and paying for a funeral and everything else that comes along with it.
“The wrestling community has always been one to come together in the wake of tragedy and this is no different. Every penny raised from this will go directly to Cory and the kids. Thank you all in advance. RIP Sara, you were one of the good ones.”