So sad. Did not expect to wake up to this news this morning. Hope his family have all the support they need. :(

I love this guy. Awful news.

WOW. SO young. RIP.

Thats awful. RiP.

wtf. that's crazy. I had no idea there was anything wrong with him. R.I.P.

omg RIP :/

RIP :sad:

He looks so much younger than 31

RIP :(
so sad & a big loss

For someone I don't personally know, I've been shocked for most of the day, I'm so shocked and saddened

Omg! This is shocking! :shocked::bawling:

Thought the same would have said he was 24.

Sad thing was he seemed like the nicest guy out of glee. I knew about his addiction and everything but this is just so shocking.

http://oi54.tinypic.com/35cpeeu.jpg

As a character he sometimes annoyed me, but as a person he seemed like a really decent guy :(

For months this was one of my fave songs, his voice was soft with a slight husky quality

I'd never have guessed he was 31, always find it bizarre when adults are playing teenage roles. How can this show carry on without him? He was the leading male from what I know.

He has been a massive character in all of the past seasons. It's tough to know if it'll continue, I guess a lot of peoples jobs are tied up in the show and I believe they're meant to start filming in a couple of weeks, although someone mentioned in another place how it might be near impossible for the cast to perform comedy so soon after such a personal loss.

The show is commissioned for two more seasons (5&6). So maybe they'll do a tribute show for Cory, with them all being themselves rather than playing their usual characters. After that they could move on with the show.

*their

..I didn't even realise that he and Lea Michele had been a couple in real life, life imitating art sort of thing..I can imagine that they're a very close knit/family type cast so this would have rocked all of their worlds very deeply..really, really sad news..just so unexpected...I don't know whether they'll do a tribute show to him or if I want them to, it's just going to be unbearable to watch...

Showbusiness colleagues have paid tribute to Glee star Cory Monteith who has been found dead in a Canada hotel.

A statement from Fox, the TV network behind Glee, issued a statement calling Monteith "an exceptional talent and an even more exceptional person".

"He was a true joy to work with and we will all miss him tremendously."

The 31-year-old actor, who played Finn Hudson in the award-winning comedy drama, was found dead at the Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver on Saturday.

The cause of death was not immediately apparent, and a post-mortem examination is expected to take place on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Vancouver's Deputy Police Chief Doug Lepard said he would "not discuss anything that we might have found in the room at this time".

Monteith, who had struggled with serious drug addiction since he was teenager, voluntarily entered rehab in April this year.

After leaving treatment, he tweeted: "Sending out big love to everyone. Thank you for the continued support! It means the world to me! :)."

Monteith had been in a relationship with his Glee co-star, Lea Michele. The pair's on-off on-screen relationship was one of the show's long-running storylines, and they were reportedly planning to marry in real life.

Michele has not commented publicly - her PR agency asked "that everyone kindly respect Lea's privacy during this devastating time".

Singer Taylor Swift - who briefly dated Monteith in 2010 - led the tributes, writing on Twitter: "Speechless. And for the worst reason."

Rihanna tweeted: "Cory Monteith, may your spirit be at peace, and may you fly with the angels... Heartbreaking, my prayers are with all of his loved ones!"

Veteran actress Mia Farrow added: "Rest in peace Cory Monteith. Sad, very very sad."

A host of his Glee co-stars joined in the tributes on Sunday.

"How sad to read about Cory Monteith passing away. What a shame. He was a lovely, kind, talented guy and will be missed," wrote Neil Patrick Harris, who won an Emmy for his guest role on the show.

"RIP Cory Montieth," wrote fellow guest star Kristin Chenoweth. "You will be loved. Always."

Dot-Marie Jones, who plays the coach Shannon Bieste at Glee's William McKinley High, wrote: "I have no words! My heart is broken.

Mark Sailing, who plays best friend Puck on the show, simply tweeted the word "No". Iqbal Theba, who plays Principal Figgins, wrote: "OMG!! My Cory..."

Damian McGinty, who played Rory in the show, revealed Monteith was the person he shot his first acting scene with. "The nicest guy I've met," he added. "Can't believe it."

Former co-star Josh Sussman called it "a tragic loss". "He was such a great guy. Super-kind &warm," he tweeted.

The critically acclaimed show follows a group of American secondary school misfits who form the 'glee club' in their quest for singing contest glory.

Monteith played the school's star quarter-back who risked rejection by his team comrades to join the glee club.

The show, known for its extravagant musical covers and celebrity guest appearances from the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, recently completed its fourth series.

One Direction singer Niall Horan described Cory as a "super nice guy" and said his thoughts were with the actor's loved ones at this difficult time.

Demi Lovato called Montieth's unexplained death "unbelievably tragic", while fellow musicians Nick Jonas and Miley Ray Cyrus tweeted that they were "praying for his family".

Montieth, who was born and raised in Canada, began acting in his late teens, having left school at 16.

His breakthrough role came in 2009, when he was cast in the pilot episode of Glee. The first series earned 19 Emmy nominations.

He had been expected to take part in the filming of the fifth series, due to air in the US in September.

"What an absolutely tragic loss of a very talented young man," wrote actress Zooey Deschanel. "A young talent gone too soon," echoed Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin

I mean how does a television show come back from something like this? Aside from the personal tragedy that they will all be feeling, and his loved ones will be reeling from this for a long time, how does the show deal with this sensitively? Do they get someone to take over the role, or is the actor more important than the role? There are some cases where you can use a new actor and the change is convincing (e.g. Nick Tilsley in Coronation Street) but with a show like Glee, I think it would be impossible... so how do they explain his disappearance within the context of the show? Obviously everyone watching will know that Cory Monteith sadly passed away, but they can't just omit the character with no explanation, there will have been storylines built upon the character and no doubt future storylines planned too. I don't even know how hard it'll be for his girlfriend to not only cope with losing him but also having to continue acting and singing on the show that brought them together and no longer be playing his opposite number. I've only ever seen snippets of the show and while it's not for me, I am very interested to see where it goes from here...

You just don't account for this kind of thing happening. I think it might stop the show from continuing, you know, I think of similar situations like when Lisa Lopes was unexpectedly killed in a car crash and suddenly TLC were TC. How does a project that revolves around the people who star in it go on without an integral part of it when unexpected circumstances appear? I hate when shows do things like "oh they've gone away for a bit" and then obviously they never return. Emmerdale did that with an elderly character (Seth iirc), the actor passed away and instead of dealing with it within the context of the writing, they just said he'd gone away to Australia (?! without his wife of x number of decades?!) and never came back. Bizarre.

I found Glee a bit cringeworthy when I used to watch it (before it moved to Sky) but there were fairly decent story lines.

I personally found the character of Finn a bit dull. I don't think it will be too difficult to write hIm out. They will just say he moved away or something similar.

Perhaps they could transition the show to college and have the characters come up against each other with their new Glee clubs or something? I've only got a basic understanding of the show 'cause I've never watched it but perhaps that way they can explain away the fact he's not in it anymore because perhaps the character doesn't go into further education or he's moved away to another country or something... I liked that suggestion GypsyGoth made that they could just do a tribute to him and then move on without the character but it just doesn't seem right, writing the character out of the show like that... obviously the role needs to be written out (unless someone else takes it over, but that would be awful for continuity, plus Glee is all about its characters) but to just sort of break the fourth wall like that would be weird... This is really fascinating to think about IMO, how is the show going to deal with this?

Well at the end of the last series his character left to go to College so I guess they could give him an ending off screen in which he becomes a teacher and gets a dream job or something.

It's such a shame, 31 is no age to die.

Been reading today that the Westboro Baptist Church are going to picket his funeral because he helped promote the gay agenda by co-starring with Chris Colfer who plays gay character Kurt on GLEE. How have these people not been sectioned yet? If Monteith's funeral is held in Canada it's highly likely that Canada will turn them away at the border for trying to spread hate, thankfully.

As a huge Glee fan, I'm truly devastated over this. R.I.P. Cory <3 x

@SkyNewsBreak: Coroner's office: 'Glee' actor Cory Monteith died from mixed drug toxicity involving heroin and alcohol

:shocked: