FREE now and never miss the top Royal stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top Royal stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Antonio “Popeye” Francis, who reached the semi-final of the ITV competition in 2011, died after suffering a stroke and had a bleed on the brain, his family said. The performer was known for his unusual routine on Britain’s Got Talent which saw him pop out his eyeballs to music. Antonio’s son announced his father’s death in a post on a GoFundMe page, set up to raise money for his funeral in Barbados which was his “last wish”. Ben Francis revealed his dad had been sleeping on buses and roaming the streets in the lead up to his death.

Speaking about Antonio’s health, he said: “He had slowly been losing his memory years prior and had been in out of hospital with a minor stroke, high blood pressure, heart failure and other organ issues but we never knew the full extent of his illness as he wouldn't ever say the real problem.” Ben revealed Antonio moved to Barbados but recently came back to London where he had nowhere to stay. He continued: “He started roaming the streets and sleeping on the night buses but when we was asking him what was happening we always received mixed answers as he couldn't remember much. “He kept losing his belongings including his phone, it was nearly impossible to contact him unless he went to the library and messaged us on Facebook.” Ben said a family friend found his dad unconscious on his bedroom floor where he was then rushed to hospital and put into an induced coma. “We managed to spend three days visiting him with some of his closest friends where he was breathing on his own but the hospital had put him on end of life treatment as we watched him get worse,” he said.

Britain's Got Talent star Antonio 'Popeye' Francis has died aged 54

Britain's Got Talent star Antonio 'Popeye' Francis readied the semi-finals

The son of the Britain’s Got Talent star are now trying to raise funds to give him a “beautiful” send off with their target country being Barbados. Ben added: “All support, donations and thoughts are extremely appreciated and if we do exceed the funds to send our father to Barbados, then we will also be donating some funds to a chosen Alzheimers organisation.” Antonio won over the judges, Michael McIntyre, Amanda Holden and David Hasselhoff, with his audition seven years ago. The entertainer showed off his unusual talent whilst pulling off some dance moves to a mix of songs I Can See Clearly Now by Jimmy Cliff and Mr Boombastic by Shaggy. After his performance, Baywatch star David was impressed and said: “That's the most entertaining, weirdest thing I've seen since I've been in Britain.

Britain's Got Talent star Antonio 'Popeye' Francis suffered a stroke

Britain's Got Talent star Antonio 'Popeye' Francis was known for his bulging eyes