Australian model and swimwear designer Sahara Ray has died aged 34, her family has said. She “passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital”, they said, adding: “She was so loved.”
A cause of death has not been confirmed.
Ray, the daughter of legendary Australian big-wave surfer Tony Ray, travelled around the world with her father as a child. She later divided her time between Australia, California and Hawaii, building a substantial social media following before launching her swimwear brand, Sahara Ray Swim, in 2014.
She also attracted attention in 2016 when rumours emerged of a romance with pop star Justin Bieber after the pair were photographed together in Hawaii. No further details of the alleged relationship were given.
In recent months, Ray had used social media to document her pregnancy and the birth of her first child, Snow, earlier this year. Her final Instagram post, shared in July, included photographs of her baby alongside the caption: “my whole heart … baby Snow”.
Ray revealed in 2024 that she had been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome after being hit by a car travelling at 128km/h.
Describing her condition in a video posted on TikTok, she said: “So basically, right now I’m paralysed from the tops of my upper thighs all the way down to my feet. I can’t walk at all.”
She said she was primarily using a wheelchair and had a walker, adding that she could “barely walk” with it. Posts referring to the illness were later deleted, while more recent images showed her walking while heavily pregnant.
