Linda Torres Dies of COVID; Big Ang Star Was 67

April 03, 2021

Linda Torres, a close friend of Angelai Raiola who often appeared on the VH1 reality series Big And, died on Thursday, just nine weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Seh was 67 years old.

Torres also made a couple of cameos on Mob Wives.

Torres passed away at Staten Island University Hospital after complications from the aforementioned virus forced her on to a ventilator, Big Ang's sister, Janine Detore, tells People Magazine.

"Linda was the life of the party – like my sister. Very fun to be around, not negative, just wanted to have a fun time," Detore said of her friend, adding:

"I get so sad to know that she's gone now.

"I absolutely love Linda. She's fabulous."

Big Ang was a a spinoff of Mob Wives and it was anchored by Raiola (aka Big Ang), who died five years ago of throat cancer.

According to TMZ, Torres suffered from underlying medical conditions that made her more at risk for a fatal case of COVID-19.

Along with her age, the cable network personality breast cancer and, recently, had surgery to implant a chemo port.

Linda's daughters were caring for their mom and took her to the hospital just over two months, thinking this port had become infected.

This was when the COVID diagnosis took place.

"She was placed on a ventilator then they took off the ventilator," Detore told People. "She really was fighting, but I guess she couldn't really battle it. It was too much."

In an 2013 interview with Mikki May of MyEPK about Big Ang and Mob Wives, Torres said:

“Big Ang is one of my best friends for 40 years.

"All the girls that we hang out with, you know, we get together, we have parties, we shoot a lot of Patron, we laugh, we fight, we go out with a lot of young guys, we have a really good time."