‘Her death has touched so many people and her death has affected the world as we know it.

How and why she passed has raised so many questions for us all, but in time we hope and pray that her story will bring awareness and save even just one hurting soul.’

Jake Pavelka, the star of Lex’s season, wrote on Twitter: ‘I’m so sad to hear about Alexa. Such a beautiful girl. My heart breaks for her family. Covering them in prayer during this rough time.’

Her friend Jesse Csincsak, who competed in and won the fourth season of The Bachelorette, said; ‘She suffered from bipolar disorder and did a good job of hiding it.

‘Most of the people who were close to her didn’t know because she hid it well.’

He also posted a photo of the two on Instagram, writing; ‘It saddens me deeply to hear the news of my #friend @lexmcallister Taking her own life !! You were a beautiful soul inside and out !!! You will be missed !! Until we meet again dear R.I.P gone but never forgotten !!!’

He sister-in-law Julie, who is a nurse at the hospital where Lex was admitted, spoke to People and said she had taken ‘combination of two different prescription medications, and Tylenol and Aspirin.’

Julie also added; ‘She was brought to my facility while I was at work, so I was there with her, and so was her brother, my husband, who’s a police officer for the city.

‘So we were both with her at all times. We were there when she came in, and she was alert at first, and then her health just declined rapidly, I think from the pills settling in her body.’

She also said that despite claims that Lex was bipolar, it had never been a big problem for her in the past.

‘You could see different phases in her, the manic and the depressive states, and sometimes when alcohol would become involved, it just spiraled.

‘I think that she had a really rough week last week and I think maybe she was drinking a little bit more, I think it spiraled into something that she just couldn’t get a hold of.’

The reality star appeared on the 14th season of The Bachelor, in which contestants were competing for Pavelka’s heart.

She is now the second contestant from her season to have taken her own life.

Gia Allemand – who was Jake’s third runner-up – tragically took her own life in August 2013 at the age of 29, committing suicide by hanging.

Lex, who described herself on Twitter as a ‘business development expert, franchise consultant, and entrepreneur’ was 25 when she appeared on the show, which aired in 2010.

She has been living in Columbus Ohio and has been working for a CPA accounting firm since 2013.

She attended Marymount Manhattan College according to her LinkedIn.

Her time on The Bachelor was brief and she was eliminated during the first week.

The season was won by Vienna Girardi, while Ali Fedotowsky, who went on to become the next Bachelorette, and fan favorite Tenley Molzahn also appeared as hopefuls.

After the news of Lex’s death, fellow season 14 star Tenley told E!: ‘I am honestly in shock that another beautiful soul would take their life.

‘She was only on our first episode but she seemed like such a vibrant soul. This is just shocking news no matter how well you know someone.’

And Vienna shared: ‘I would like to express my sincere condolences. My heart goes out to Lex’s family during this difficult time. I remember her being such a positive young lady who could light up any room.’

Lex posted an Instagram collage to mark the New Year, and thanked her family and friends.

‘I so appreciate the amount of laughter, fun, goofiness and love I’ve been given,’ she wrote. ‘Thank you for my family, for my friends and for the many experiences I’ve had in just 31 years of life.

‘Thank you God for cleaning my life of those who take but do not give, those who throw stones and those who have nothing to offer, but their own grief and angst.

‘I look forward to the new people, places and things just around the corner. #thankyou #lifeisgood #2016 #byefelicia.’