Former Good Morning Britain presenter John Stapleton died, aged 79, over the weekend and the ITV show has since paid tribute to the late journalist and broadcaster
A tribute to the late John Stapleton has been shared on Good Morning Britain following the news of his death over the weekend. The journalist had worked on the breakfast show when it first launched just over a decade ago.
“We go on air this morning on Good Morning Britain holding in our hearts the family on John Stapleton,” Susanna Reid said. “He was a part of this programme’s history and a part of breakfast television history.”
Richard added: “He was a major figure at the BBC and a major figure at ITV. He was huge.”
Susanna continued: “We will be remembering John throughout the programme. We were lucky enough to interview John last year, when he described in his own words, coming out about his Parkinson’s diagnosis. He was so incredibly positive.”
Praising his “wit and warmth”, Susanna said that broadcasting has “lost a legend”. While appearing to become emotional, Richard said: “I can’t believe he’s gone actually. It seems impossible.”
It was announced yesterday that John died, aged 79, earlier that morning. His agent shared in a statement that he had Parkinson’s disease complicated by pneumonia, adding that the broadcaster died “peacefully” in hospital. The news prompted tributes, including from former colleagues.
Good Morning Britain paid tribute to John, who worked on the ITV show from 2014 to 2015, today following the news of his death. ADD
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John’s decade long career saw him work for the BBC on shows like Panorama and Watchdog, which he hosted with his late wife Lynn Faulds Wood, who died in 2020. He also worked on TV-am’s Good Morning Britain from 1983 to 1986.
Whilst at ITV, John worked on GMTV and then Daybreak. He went on to move over to Good Morning Britain, known as GMB, when it replaced Daybreak in 2014. He remained a presenter on the show until the following year.
The tribute on Good Morning Britain comes after former colleagues had already posted about John on social media. They included Susanna Reid, who wrote on X yesterday following the news: “So so sad to hear of John Stapleton’s death.”
Susanna concluded by writing: “He was a legend in broadcasting, the consummate pro and always good-humoured and gracious to work with. A huge part of GMB’s story and television history. Sending love to John’s family.”
The news of John’s death comes just days after his son Nick Stapleton spoke about him on Morning Live. Host Gethin Jones said that John had taken “a bit of a turn for the worse” so Nick, who appeared by video link, was with him.
Nick said: “Unfortunately, Dad’s got a bit of a chest infection and that can be pretty nasty if you’ve got Parkinson’s. And I just felt like I really needed to be there with him this weekend and get him some help. And thankfully, that is now in place, and I’m hopeful that, y’know, he’ll be back on form pretty soon.”
John shared his Parkinson’s diagnosis in October last year. As reported at the time, he said in a film for the BBC show: “Speaking is how I’ve earned my living for the best part of 50 years, and it’s very frustrating sometimes, particularly if people are constantly saying to you, sorry, what did you say?”
He continued in the segment: “And you have to repeat yourself time and time and time again. I’m fairly pragmatic about the prospect of this getting worse. I try to remain positive because what’s the point of not being [positive].”
John later told the Mirror in an interview published in November last year: “Parkinson’s is not going to go away, so learn to live with it. I take the best advice I can from my neurologist, from my speech therapist, and get on with it.”
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