Actor and former Idols SA presenter Matthew Stewardson, who died on Friday, has been described as “an awesome guy who was well loved” by friends and family.
Stewardson, who would have been 36 on Saturday, was the son of one of the country’s most talented actors, Joe Stewardson. He died after coming out of the surf at Jeffreys Bay on Friday. He had been learning to surf but collapsed on the beach, complaining of breathing problems.
His agent of five years, Jurgie Wagner, said: “The messages and tributes are pouring in on Facebook and Twitter. It’s incredible. I haven’t seen anything like it.”
Stewardson looked set to become a rising star on the South African entertainment circuit in the 1990s. As one of the older presenters on K-TV, he was popular and his star was rising fast. In 2002 M-Net bought the rights to host Idols and Stewardson and Candy Litchfield were the hosts.
But halfway through the first season he was axed because of a drug addiction. Soon afterwards he checked himself into rehab.
Reports at the time said it was a long struggle for Stewardson after Idols, but he managed to stay clean for about five months and got the lead role in Frankly Speaking, singing Sinatra songs.
But he had another relapse and went back to fighting his addiction.
He had a brief stint on 5Fm as a DJ, and had some small daytime shows on SABC. Last year he was in a show called Sing When You’re Swinging.
– Staff Reporter