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martyn hett

The funeral for popular social media figure Martyn Hett, who was killed in the Manchester attack, was perfect

There were tributes from Mariah Carey, Michelle McManus and his favourite Corrie stars.

Fx2nN1VE_400x400 Martyn Hett / Twitter Martyn Hett / Twitter / Twitter

BEFORE HE LOST his life in the Manchester bombing last month, Martyn Hett was an incredibly popular social media figure who had created a lot of brilliant viral content, including this compilation of Audrey Roberts making her famous “Hm?!” noise:

Martyn Hett / YouTube

Martyn had been a huge fan of Coronation Street (and dedicated a huge amount of his time to making Coronation Street memes and sharing the shows best moments – like Deirdre Barlow singing Rihanna). He had a tattoo of Anne Kirkbride’s Coronation Street character Deirdre Barlow on his leg.

PastedImage-64595 Martyn Hett / Twitter Martyn Hett / Twitter / Twitter

He starred in an episode of Come Dine With Me, he was obsessed with Mariah Carey and he loved his cat dearly (she was named Emily Bishop after the Coronation Street character, of course).

That’s pretty much all the background information you need to understand how perfect his funeral was.

Martyn’s family and friends planned to give him the theatrical funeral that he would have wanted, so he could go out like the diva that he knew he was. Prior to the attack, he had planned his funeral, just in general conversation and stipulated that attendants should wear something “black and fabulous”.

Martyn Hett funeral Peter Byrne Peter Byrne

When he arrived at his funeral in his Coronation Street coffin, he was met with a minute’s applause. The end of the coffin featured a photograph of his beloved cat and the top of it had the word “ICONIC” emblazoned on it.

Martyn Hett funeral Peter Byrne Peter Byrne

The funeral featured a video message sent to him from Mariah Carey. She had previously paid tribute to him on her Instagram.

Here’s her video message.

If you’re having trouble playing the video, you can watch it here

In the video message Mariah Carey says:

I love you and I’m so happy we got the chance to meet. I know that you’re shining down on us from heaven and I’m happy that all your family and friends could gather together in honour of you.

Martyn’s step father said that he was a bundle of fun and somebody who was “fearless about life because he wasn’t frightened of talking a bout his own death”. Martyn’s dream funeral didn’t just stop at Mariah Carey. Corrie star Helen Worth – known best as Gail Platt – attended Martyn’s funeral service.

Coronation Street star Antony Cotton (who plays Sean Tully) also attended and paid tribute to Martyn on his Twitter account.

 Here’s what the funeral program looked like:

Martyn Hett funeral Peter Byrne Peter Byrne

Inside, the schedule for the funeral was listed. He entered to ‘Beautiful’ by Mariah Carey, was welcomed into the church and later eulogized by Michelle McManus, there were tributes from friends and family and finally, he exited to go to a private ceremony for cremation to the song ‘One Last Time’ by Ariana Grande.

Michelle McManus had been friends with Martyn on social media after he got in touch with her to tell her that he was a huge fan of her (in her words) “because of that one song”.

He came all the way from Manchester to London just to see her perform at 1am one night. When she walked out on stage she said she “saw him beaming up at me like I was Mariah Carey carrying some holiday weight.”

Tributes were paid to him from Radio One DJ Nick Grimshaw who said that Martyn was someone who “found the joy in everyday life”. Comedian Jason Manford said “The world has been robbed of a potential superstar. An actual superstar. In some way or other, he has touched a lot of people’s lives.”

Hundreds of people gathered to pay tribute to the 29-year-old as he was laid to rest in a funeral that really expressed who he was, that he undoubtedly would have been delighted with.

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