By Katy Hallam,Rose Hill

Copyright birminghammail

A beloved choreographer renowned for his work with One Direction and Steps has sadly passed away at the age of 52. Paul Roberts has been described as “one of the most kindest and beautiful souls” by numerous heartbroken celebrities who have paid tribute following his family’s announcement of his death online. The dance specialist died at his home on Friday evening with his loved ones by his side after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Read more James Martin shares heartbreaking tribute to ‘legend’ after tragic death Writing on his official Instagram account, his relatives and friends shared: “Yesterday evening. after a courageous battle with cancer, Paul passed away gently at home, surrounded by his family. “His departure, much like his life, was filled with grace RIP.” Strictly Come Dancing star Layton Williams was amongst those offering condolences, posting: “One of the kindest most beautiful souls. “Was an honour to know and have worked for you Paul. Sleep well beautiful man.”, reports the Mirror . Meanwhile, Kimberley Walsh added: “This is the saddest news I’m so so sorry @thephilgriffin. Paul was very special indeed. Sending you all my love.” Louis Tomlinson’s sister Lottie also posted a heartbroken emoji, whilst Steps’ Ian ‘H’ Watkins penned: “Devastated. What an incredible human Paul was. Sending [tons] of love.” In recent years, Paul had collaborated with Harry Styles on his Treat People With Kindness music video, which earned him and the creative team a VMA for Best Choreography in 2021. He posted at the time: “KINDNESS WINS! ! “Wow, huge news to wake up too. I can’t believe we’ve won a Moon Man @vmas #tpwk #bestchoreography. “You really loved our dance! Thank you so much for all the messages – I will get around to replying, probably after a margarita or two. We must celebrate, I’m all giddy. For the love of dance.” He had previously told the BBC that filming took place just before the Covid pandemic struck, explaining: “Looking back it was about three weeks before the world started to burn. Maybe that’s partly why people are loving it now – the video has such a carefree sense to it.” Throughout his quarter-century career in the business, Paul has collaborated with some of music’s biggest stars, creating choreography for One Direction clips including Best Song Ever and Kiss You. Speaking to the BBC in 2021, he revealed: “It was always really interesting working with One Direction. I knew very early on that there was a magic about them and I could see they had other skill-sets aside from being this very good-looking five-piece, and then four-piece, band. “In personal moments you got to see them flourish. They’d mess around doing silly dance moves but I’d think, ‘Actually if you wanted to dance really well you sure as hell could do it.'”.