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Susanna Reid has recalled her favourite memories of Bill Turnbull following his death.
The beloved journalist died peacefully surrounded by his loved ones on Wednesday, aged 66 and following a battle with prostate cancer.
Turnbull was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2017 and was very open about his journey.
Tributes have poured in from co-presenters and BBC Breakfast viewers across the country following the news of his death, which Reid says ‘knocked her sideways’.
Speaking on Friday’s Good Morning Britain, the ITV presenter hailed him the ‘father of BBC Breakfast’ who ‘inspired’ her and acted as a ‘mentor’ to many.
‘You wanted to do your best for him’, she said.
Recalling working with him as a producer, she continued: ‘He was a stickler for detail with spelling, punctuation, and grammar, he would rewrite every script to make sure it was perfect because he wanted the best programme there could possibly be. He threw himself into everything.’
Reid remembered how ‘competitive’ Turnbull was when BBC filmed a Come Dine With Me Spoof, saying he ‘really wanted to get the 10s’.
However, ‘it was only telly’ to him and he would ‘let it all go’ once cameras stopped rolling.
‘For him, the most important thing in his life was home, his family, his wife, his children, his dogs… everything else for Bill was irrespective and that’s an important thing to know about him’.
She proceeded to share a comical nickname the staff had for him while working with the late presenter.
‘He was such a funny person to be around. He was so much fun to be with. I don’t want to sound sombre talking about him because he had such a sense of humour.
‘I remember when he presented on this programme (GMB), we called him a saucepot because he definitely had a way with the double entendres, he really did. He was delightful company’.
Reid met Turnbull over 25 years ago and they worked together on numerous occasions and they remained close friends, hence why she was ’emotional’ upon hearing of his death.
She also shared that Turnbull said ‘if there was one useful thing he did in his life, it was encouraging men to get checked’ for prostate cancer, with doctors later branding the surge in men booking appointments the ‘Turnbull-Fry effect’ for how he and Stephen Fry ‘motivated each other’.
‘Men’s lives will have been saved because of what he did’, Reid said.
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Turnbull’s career began at Scotland’s Radio Clyde in 1978 before he joined the BBC as a reporter for the Today programme in 1986. He became a reporter for BBC’s Breakfast Time two years later.
He leaves behind heartbroken wife Sarah, whom he married in 1988, as well as two sons and a daughter.
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