Drake Bell has been left "crushed" by the death of his ex-girlfriend.

The 31-year-old actor was distraught to learn YouTube star Stevie Ryan - who he dated from 2005-2006 - had passed away in an apparent suicide on July 1 and described the situation as a "nightmare".

Alongside a photo of himself and Stevie from when they were together, he tweeted: "No no no!!!! I can NOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!! Please wake me from this nightmare @StevieRyan I loved you and will forever miss you! (sic)"

He later added: "This is too much. My heart is crushed. @StevieRyan I love you and miss you..."

Stevie, 33, passed away at her home over the weekend, with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office listing her death as suicide by hanging.

The 'Sex with Brody' co-presenter's death came just a day after she posted a tribute to her beloved grandfather after he passed away.

She wrote on Twitter: "The man of my dreams will now only be in my dreams.

"I'll miss you everyday, forever. I love you my Pa."

And just a week ago, Stevie - who has spoken openly about her depression - discussed her grandparent's death on the podcast she co-hosted, 'Mentally Ch(ill)'.

She admitted: "I'm just worried that this is going to send me into a deeper depression."

Stevie, whose YouTube channel was 'Little Loca', was known for her parodies of celebrities including Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

She previously said of her spoofs: "No matter who you are... You can be the most talented person in the world and you put anything on the Internet and all you're going to get is hateful responses.

"I didn't know that at the time. I don't think anyone knew that yet. I was like, 'Oh hell no they didn't! These b***hes do not know what they just asked for!'

"So then I created 'Little Loca' thinking, 'I'm going to hand YouTube its ass right now.' I created 'Little Loca' and thought I'd just do it and freak people out."