Unanswered calls led to police tipoff on death of former Idol judge

Jay Dee Springbett was found dead in a Woolloomooloo apartment. Photo / AAP

Tributes have flowed for former Australian Idol judge Jay Dee Springbett, found dead in his Sydney serviced apartment after he didn't answer telephone calls.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances around the death of the British-born Sony music executive, who replaced Kyle Sandilands on the show's final season after the radio shock jock was sacked for grilling a teenage girl, who was strapped to a lie detector, about sex and drugs.

Some media reports yesterday said Springbett, 36, had been found unconscious in his Woolloomooloo apartment by paramedics alerted to a possible heart attack.

One also said there had been reports that Springbett had lost his job as senior director of A&R for Sony Records, but he was still in the position at the time of his death on Thursday.

Springbett separated last year from his fiancee Louisa McCole, the mother of his daughters aged 4 and 1, and moved out of their North Shore home.

On her Facebook page yesterday McCole said she was "heartbroken" by Springbett's death.

Sony Music head Dennis Handlin told Radio 2GB yesterday that police had been alerted when he did not answer calls.

"We thought we better let the police know because it's really not like him," he said.

"It's just so difficult coming to terms with it ... Jay Dee was so very enthusiastic and passionate about his family, his music projects and his plans for the future."

Sandilands said on his radio show yesterday that he and Springbett had remained friends and had intended to meet on Thursday.

Former Idol host Andrew Gunsberg tweeted: "I'm completely sidelined by the news".