Kailia Posey, Toddlers & Tiaras star, dies at 16

Kailia Posey, who garnered fame as a young child on TLC's reality show Toddlers & Tiaras, has died. She was 16.

Posey's mom confirmed the news in a Facebook post, sharing a photo of her daughter and asking for privacy. "I don't have any words or any thoughts. A beautiful baby girl is gone," she wrote.

Details of Posey's death were not immediately available.

Documenting the lives of families as they prepared for and trained their children to compete in beauty pageants, Toddlers & Tiaras premiered in 2009 and ran until 2013. Posey appeared in multiple episodes from 2011-2012, and almost instantly became a standout thanks to her natural talent. She would later become even more famous for something that will live on the internet forever: an expression that, over the years, has become immortalized as a popular reaction GIF on social media.

Despite some criticism from parent groups about how the show portrayed its young competitors, many of Toddler & Tiara's young stars gained prominence and went on to take part in national competitions over the years. That included Posey, who according to her Instagram competed in multiple beauty pageants throughout her childhood and was crowned Miss Spotlight West Coast in a 2015 national pageant.

Posey is survived by her parents and two brothers.

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