Pakistani-American chef Fatima Ali, known for her 2017 appearance on popular US television series Top Chef, passed away on Friday after losing a prolonged battle with cancer, her family confirmed.

Fatima had appeared on season 15 of the reality competition show as a contestant and was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer — Ewing's Sarcoma — right after. Chemotherapy appeared to benefit her initially but cancer returned in September last year with doctors telling her it has metastasized.

The 29-year-old chef, who was voted 'fan favourite' on Top Chef, had in October 2018 penned an op-ed for Bon Appetit, in which she shared that she has a year to live and intends to use it to make amends with the people in her life and to sample the finest food all over the world.

In November, she had appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about how she was dealing with her terminal cancer diagnosis.

Fatima had then said her plan was to travel the world to dine at the best restaurants. Her friends from Top Chef had started a GoFundMe page to help her fulfil her wishes.

On January 11, she had shared an update about her health in what would be her last Instagram post.