Celebrity chef Darren Simpson dies of suspected heart attack

Celebrity chef Darren Simpson has died, reportedly from an illness related to alcohol addiction.

Friends of the Irish-born chef have expressed their grief online.

Simpson is believed to have suffered a heart attack on Thursday night near his home in Byron Bay, News Corp reports.

"Devastated … the world has lost another brilliant mind," fellow television chef Jason Roberts wrote on Facebook.

"Such sad news to hear of my former colleague Darren Simpson passing away today," renowned chef Andrew Ballard wrote on Twitter.

"RIP Dazza."

Simpson studied and began his career in Northern Ireland where he was born and within two years of landing his first job he was named UK's Young Chef of the Year, a profile for the Lifestyle channel says.

In 1999 he became the head chef of Aqua Luna Bar and Restaurant at Sydney's East Circular Quay before pursuing a successful television career in Australia.

Among his many television roles, he was the resident chef on Sunrise, a presiding judge on My Restaurant Rules, and a regular on Ready Steady Cook.