SOFA SURFER

Chris Hallam pays tribute to former BBC Breakfast presenter Bill Turnbull whose long career enabled him to build up an easy intimacy with his audience

- Chris Hallam

During an interview, TV presenter Bill Turnbull was once asked how he would most like to be remembered. “As a half-decent journalist,” he replied. It was a typically modest remark. The reality is that Turnbull was not only much more than “half-decent” in his chosen career but that by the time of his death, at the age of 66 in August 2022, his long years of broadcasting, particularly his hosting of BBC Breakfast between 2001 and 2016, had ensured he had become a hugely popular figure beloved by millions of people. Many viewers came to feel they knew him personally.

As it turns out, another major aspect of his legacy came as a result of the shock news of his diagnosis with prostate cancer. In November 2017, he had been filming a celebrity edition of The Great British Bake Off, when he discovered he had the illness himself. He had been suffering from pains in his legs but had convinced himself this was just another symptom of old age. In the end, his son persuaded him to go to a doctor but, as he explained in an emotional message inserted into the Bake Off show, it was already too late.

“A black curtain” descended after the diagnosis, he said. “If I had been tested a few years ago, we would have knocked it on the head.” Bill urged men everywhere to get themselves tested for the illness as early as possible. Turnbull’s words had a major impact and undoubtedly saved many, probably thousands of lives.

“Thousands and thousands of men have come forward as a result of him helping us raise awareness of Prostate Cancer UK – and him just telling his story,” said Laura Kerby, chief executive of the charity.