Model Tales Soares Dies After Catwalk Collapse In Brazil

Twenty-six-year-old male model Tales Soares, who also went by the name Tales Cotta, died after collapsing on the catwalk during a fashion show in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday, April 27.

He was working the runway for the brand Ocksa as part of a Sao Paulo Fashion Week show. The tan, platinum-haired stunner was wearing an oversized light blue button-down shirt, loose yellow-green shorts, and sandals featuring long, teal straps that were hanging off of the shoes.

BBC News reported that Soares strutted down the catwalk to its end, turned around to walk back to the top, and then, all of a sudden, staggered and fell down onto the floor.

According to the New York Post, many witnesses thought that the handsome Brazilian model simply tripped over the sandal’s straps. Other members of the audience believed that the collapse was a staged act that was part of the fashion show.

However, once Soares started foaming at the mouth, his fall was taken much more seriously. Paramedics rushed to the stage to tend to the model, and then quickly took him to the hospital. He was soon pronounced dead.

An official statement about the shocking incident — posted in Portuguese on the Sao Paulo Fashion Week Instagram page — extended condolences to Soares’ family. The organization also said that it is working with his modeling agency, “providing all necessary assistance at this sad time.”

Modeling agency Base MGT also shared news of the sad death on Instagram. The company explained that Soares had been working with them for a year and a half and “always had exemplary behavior.”

“We emphasize that Tales never presented or complained about health problems. He maintained a healthy diet (he was vegetarian), did not use illicit substances and was in [proper] conditions to participate in the [fashion show]. We await the medical report and ask for respect at this time of deep sadness.”

The official cause of death will not be known until a complete autopsy has been performed.

Soares is not the first entertainer to collapse onstage and die this month.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, veteran British comedian Ian Cognito died during a stand-up performance on April 11. The comic was telling jokes to a sold-out crowd at the Lone Wolf Comedy Club at the Atic in the English town of Bicester, Oxfordshire, when he sat down on a stool and breathed heavily for about five minutes.

Just like in Soares’ incident, the audience first thought that it was all part of Cognito’s act. After realizing that he was actually in need of medical attention, two off-duty nurses and a police officer attending the show administered CPR, and an ambulance was called to the club. Cognito was pronounced dead at the scene.