The 27-year-old was a dancer with the troupe that won Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, and had recently emigrated
The dance troupe Diversity has paid tribute to former member Rob Anker, after he died in a car crash at the age of 27.
The British dancer was killed on Thursday morning in Canada, where he had moved to live with his fiancee Cyndi. The couple married in September last year.
Anker was a member of the group that first became famous in 2009 after winning ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, beating Scottish singer Susan Boyle to the £100,000 first prize.
Diversity, whose members include Ashley Banjo and Perri Kiely, tweeted on Saturday morning:
Diversity (@Diversity_Tweet) A former member of our group has tragically passed away. He inspired so many with his talent and was taken far too soon.
R.I.P Rob 🙏🏼💔
Essex-born Anker, who joined Diversity after their Britain’s Got Talent win, had gone on to perform with artists such as Paloma Faith and Peter Andre and appeared on TV shows including The X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and Take Me Out.
He was also in the cast of the West End production of the Michael Jackson musical Thriller Live.
Friday night’s performance of the show was dedicated to the former cast member. A Facebook post read: “He had incredible talent, great personality and was very popular amongst many. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
News of his death came after he was named in local reports of the collision in the city of Vaughan, in the York region of Ontario province.
A spokesman for Canada’s York regional police said a Chevrolet Cobalt and a Ford F550 truck collided in Major Mackenzie Drive just before 6am on Thursday. They said that the driver of the Chevrolet died from his injuries, but the other driver was unhurt.
Tributes have been paid to Anker on social media:
Britain's Got Talent (@BGT) We are so sorry to hear of the loss of Robert Anker, our thoughts and condolences go out to his friends, family and the whole of Diversity.
Choreographer Dean Lee tweeted:
D E A N L E E (@DeanAnthLee) Rob Anker. I have no words to speak after hearing of your passing. This is truly heart breaking. Thanks for the memories.
Shine bright.
A JustGiving page has been set up to help his family travel to Canada for the funeral, and has already passed its £5,000 target.
His cousin Rochelle Hanson, who founded the page, wrote: “The family are devastated. He was an amazing and talented dancer. We would love to ensure that his family don’t worry or stress about money at this time.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the death of a British man in Canada. We are providing assistance to his family at this sad time.”
File photo of Diversity in 2009. 
Robert Anker, a British dancer and member of troupe  when they won the 2009 season of , died in a car accident in Canada on Thursday. Anker died after a collision between his  and a  pick-up truck. The accident occurred in ,  at around 6:00 AM Thursday morning, . Anker, who moved to Canada last year, was 27 years old.

 confirmed the accident had occurred and the driver of the pick-up truck was not injured. A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said "We are aware of the death of a British man in Canada. We are providing assistance to his family at this sad time".

Anker's cousin Rochelle Hanson set up a  page, by yesterday already past its target of £5,000, to raise funds for his family to travel to the funeral in Canada. Hanson said "The family are devastated. He was an amazing and talented dancer. We would love to ensure that his family don’t worry or stress about money at this time."

Diversity, Anker's former dance crew, tweeted "A former member of our group has tragically passed away. He inspired so many with his talent and was taken far too soon. R.I.P Rob." The Twitter account for Britain's Got Talent said "We are so sorry to hear of the loss of Robert Anker, our thoughts and condolences go out to his friends, family and the whole of Diversity."

Dean Lee, a choreographer on talent show , tweeted, "Rob Anker. I have no words to speak after hearing of your passing. This is truly heart breaking. Thanks for the memories. Shine bright."

After winning the 2009 series of Britain's Got Talent, Anker performed in music videos of singers  and , and in the production of '''' in the . Anker and his girlfriend Cyndi married in September.


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