Brazilian bodybuilding influencer Kadu Santos dies at age 31 just weeks after on-stage proposal

22 October 2025

Brazilian bodybuilding champion and social-media fitness influencer Kadu Santos, known in full as Ricardo Nolasco dos Santos, passed away on Monday at the age of 31, leaving behind a stunned community of fans, colleagues and loved ones. According to multiple reports, Santos died in Novo Hamburgo in the state of Rio Grande do Sul; no official cause of death has been released.

Santos had built a remarkable competitive résumé. He won 11 bodybuilding titles in his career and captured two overall championships at a prestigious regional muscle-contest event. His rise began as a teenager when he took up serious training around age 17, and his dedication quickly gained him recognition both in the gym and online.

More than just an athlete, Santos leveraged his success into a strong social-media presence. He amassed more than 13,000 followers on Instagram, sharing training videos, diet advice and glimpses into his life as a personal trainer and competition coach. His posts resonated with young body-builders and fitness enthusiasts across Brazil and beyond.

Just a few months before his untimely death Santos celebrated a deeply personal milestone: on July 19, during a public event, he proposed to his longtime girlfriend, personal trainer Sabrina Wollmann, marking the couple’s four-year anniversary together. Wollmann posted a heartfelt message on Instagram expressing her admiration and love for Santos and posting photos from their proposal and a September beach getaway.

Following news of his passing, tributes poured in from across the fitness and bodybuilding world. Santos’s father, Amauri Santos, posted on social media: “The saddest day of my life. My beloved son.” Closest friends and colleagues echoed the sentiment, describing him as a charismatic and warm presence whose drive inspired others. Fellow body-builder Diego Wiegand wrote that “Heaven is definitely partying today,” and that Santos left a legacy “of discipline, dedication and companionship.”

The circumstances of his death remain under investigation, and no further detail on cause has been disclosed. That lack of clarity has deepened the sense of loss in the community: someone at the peak of physical condition, with promising years ahead, taken far too early.

While the bodybuilding world unfortunately has seen several untimely deaths in recent years, Santos’s story stands out for its blend of athletic success, online influence and recently found personal joy through his engagement. Observers say his passing prompts reflection not just on training, aesthetics and competition but on health, lifestyle and the pressures that accompany high-performance sport.

For his partner Wollmann the blow is deeply personal. Engagement photos and public declarations of support give way to grief. Santos’s last post on Instagram a tribute to his cat Baki, who had died after four years together now reads as poignant finality.

Those who knew him say he will be remembered not just for his trophies but for how he built community, uplifted others and shared his journey un-filtered. At his gym, PowerCT, staff described him as an example of dedication and inspiration. His role as a coach and mentor was just as meaningful as his role as competitor.

Outside the gym and social feeds, Santos’s story highlights broader issues about athlete health and wellness. With heavy training, strict diets and high expectations, the bodybuilding world like many high-performance arenas faces questions about how to support competitors, monitor risks and maintain holistic wellbeing. While no link to his cause of death has been established, his sudden passing adds urgency to conversations about athlete care.

In sporting communities, loss resonates in shared memories, videos of past lifts, workout routines and motivational posts that now carry new weight. Santos’s training clips, once source of inspiration, become testament to a life lived intensely and purposefully. For young athletes who followed him online, the message is bittersweet: triumph exists alongside vulnerability.

For his friends and family the path forward will involve reconciliation of grief with legacy. His trophies and social-media milestones, his propose-moment with Wollmann, his following of young trainees they all reflect a young man who had achieved so much and touched many, and who now has left a void.

As tributes continue and fans share their memories of the athlete, the coach, the fiancé the broader legacy of Kadu Santos takes form. It is a story of sport, of community, of love and of sudden absence. His name now joins those of athletes remembered not just for competition wins, but for what they inspired in others.