The mother of an Instagram and YouTube influencer who died when she was eight months pregnant, along with her unborn son, has said she would miss her “for the rest of my life”.

Hundreds of thousands of people had followed Nicole Thea’s pregnancy and she had named her child Reign ahead of the birth. The circumstances of their deaths on 11 July were not known. Her family said the 24-year-old, known as Miss Thea, who had 160,000 fans on Instagram and nearly 90,000 followers on YouTube, did not die in childbirth.

Fans and other influencers paid tributes to her, with the Love Island star Alexandra Cane writing: “This is heart breaking”. Meanwhile, the choreographer Sherrie Silver said she was “completely and utterly heartbroken” over the news.

Followers of the social media star also expressed their condolences to her family and her partner.

Thea, a dancer turned online star, lived with her partner, Global Boga, 20, in London. His real name is Jeffrey Frimpong.

In a statement her mother said: “To all Nicole’s friends and supporters it is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Nicole and her son she and Boga named Reign sadly passed away on Saturday morning.”

In April Thea and her partner announced the pregnancy with an Instagram post: “We can’t hide this any longer, secrets out. GOD gave us the biggest blessing yet. I’m finally creating a beautiful little human inside of me.”

The final video posted to Miss Thea’s YouTube featured her in a bath full of milk. It was put up shortly before her death was confirmed on her Instagram account.