Blue Peter tragedies – star dies penniless to | UK News

Blue Peter has been a fixture on our screens since 1958, with a host of different presenters gracing the BBC programme over the years. However, despite the light-hearted and enjoyable moments broadcast, some of the celebrities have skilled profound personal tragedies. Here, Express.co.uk takes a look back at the heartbreak the solid has been through… 

Christopher Tace

Christopher Trace, a Blue Peter legend, sadly handed away penniless despite dedicating 9 years to the famend BBC youngsters’s show. Launching his presenting profession at the age of 25 in 1958, Trace was the male presenter who launched the very first episode of the show alongside co-host Leila Williams.

Unfortunately, issues did not pan out effectively for the gifted star. By 1967, Blue Peter executives have been keen to exchange him, citing difficulties working with him on set.

Trace left Blue Peter in 1967 and gambled on a new business enterprise as a author and manufacturing supervisor at a characteristic movie company, but the job failed and finally price him his life financial savings.

He was declared bankrupt in 1973, two years after marrying Prudence Da, and discovered himself pulling pints in a Norwich pub and driving a taxi to make ends meet.

Diane Louise Jordan

Diane Louise Jordan joined the programme in 1990 and made historical past as the first black presenter on the collection. She developed an glorious working relationship with her colleague, Anthea Turner, and gained over audiences nationwide.

Diane also offered Blue Peter alongside Yvette Fielding, John Leslie, Tim Vincent, Stuart Miles and Katy Hill. Her departure in 1996 left followers devastated, with many expressing their sorrow at her leaving.

Speaking to the Sun in 2022, she mirrored: “I went from being potentially something that could bring the programme into some awful disrepute to being one of the presenters that is very warmly received.”

Since her Blue Peter days, she has continued her presenting profession, lately showing on Songs Of Praise. Diane also found romance with musician Giles Broadbent, whom she wed in 2007.

However, Giles had handed away after a transient sickness in 2023 at the age of 51. As a member of the Stringfever quartet, the group issued a assertion declaring: “Although Giles had not been well recently, we as a family are still in shock at his passing. The band will be taking a break whilst we make funeral arrangements.”

John Noakes

John Noakes held his place on the programme for 13 years, establishing himself as Blue Peter’s longest-serving host in its historical past. He was fearless when it got here to tackling extraordinary challenges while broadcasting.

Indeed, on one memorable event, he scaled Nelson’s Column to help the crew in cleansing the monument. He shared a great bond with the show’s canine companion, Shep.

His most memorable catchphrase was “Get down, Shep!” Following his departure from the programme, he and his partner determined to embark on a travelling journey. They set off on their journey in 1982 but have been compelled to return home prematurely due to a hurricane.

In 1984, they tried the journey once more but have been unable to continue, finally settling in Majorca. Tragically, in his later years, John was recognized with Alzheimer’s and handed away in 2017.

Michael Sundin

Michael Sundin had been half of the British Men’s National Trampoline Squad before becoming a member of Blue Peter in 1984. Michael joined the workforce after being interviewed by presenter Janet Ellis during filming for Return to Oz.

Programme bosses subsequently recruited him for the show, and he relished snowboarding and trampolining with the RAF. His contract was not renewed following the summer season break, after he appeared in 77 episodes.

It was instructed that editors and manufacturing workers felt he hadn’t shaped a strong connection with viewers; however, his inappropriateity was reportedly the first purpose.

Upon leaving the programme, pictures of Michael with a male stripper surfaced. He issued a assertion the next day claiming his past had been merely a part, telling the Mirror at the time: “I confess that when I was younger, I did have affairs with boys. I was just experimenting.”

Speaking about the scandalous images that surfaced of him with a stripper, he confessed: “I was cruelly conned into it. After it was all over, I felt degraded, defiled and humiliated. I have been through a nightmare, and my career is shattered.”

Carol Keating

Carol Keating served on the show for 4 years before stepping down to focus on motherhood. Her daring exploits included abseiling down cliffs and skyscrapers, leaping under waterfalls and diving with sharks.

She returned to tv when her two sons have been older, taking up internet hosting duties on This Morning for a period and filling in for Richard and Judy. In 1997, she was recognized with breast cancer but continued her tv work, showing in adverts and presenting Work It Out.

Tragically, Carole misplaced her battle with cancer at the age of 41.

Simon Thomas

Simon Thomas, a presenter from the Nineteen Nineties who carried the show into the new millennium, utilized for the job 3 times before finally changing Richard Bacon, who was dismissed following a cocaine scandal. After his stint on Blue Peter, he transitioned into sports activities presenting, main the coverage of the 2010 South Africa World Cup finals for Sky Sports.

He married his colleague Gemma, and they’d a son named Ethan. Tragically, in 2017, his spouse handed away all of a sudden, just three days after being recognized with acute myeloid leukaemia. Following Gemma’s death, Simon took a hiatus from Sky Sports to commit more time to his son.