Clive Myrie has paid an emotional tribute to his “mentor” George Alagiah while live on BBC News this afternoon.
Tributes have been pouring in from famous names and viewers in their thousands after it was announced earlier today that legendary BBC presenter George Alagiah had sadly passed away at the age of 67 following a long battle with illness after first being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer back in 2014.
The “much-loved” figure was well-known to TV audiences for having been one of the BBC News at Six’s main presenters for almost two decades.
He was appointed an OBE for services to journalism in 2008.
Alagiah had been bravely continuing with his broadcast career between cancer treatments since his initial diagnosis – but the BBC announced in a statement today that the “outstanding” journalist had sadly passed away.
BBC Director General Tim Davie remembered Alagiah as “one of the best and bravest journalists of his generation” in a tribute paid earlier today, adding that everyone across the BBC is “incredibly sad” to learn the news of his passing, as he reported “fearlessly” from across the world, as well as presenting the news “flawlessly”.
“He was more than just an outstanding journalist,” Mr Davie added, “audiences could sense his kindness, empathy and wonderful humanity”.
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It was the job of current BBC News presenter Clive Myrie to break the news of Alagiah’s passing live on air this afternoon – with the Bolton-born journalist then taking the time to pay his own emotional tribute fondly remembering his “mentor”.
Fighting back tears as he spoke, Myrie said in tribute to Alagiah: “On a personal note, George touched all of us here at in the BBC newsroom with his kindness and generosity, his warmth and his good humour.
“I loved him as mentor, colleague, and friend.”
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Viewers have dubbed Myrie’s tribute as a “very moving” moment of live TV.
Reacting to the live tribute, one viewer wrote on Twitter: “Sad to see Clive Myrie welling-up as he read the news about the death of his colleague and friend George Alagiah. Well done Clive for just getting through it, RIP George.”
Another wrote: “Poor Clive Myrie is doing an exceptional job holding it together while announcing George Alagiah’s death on BBC News. You can see how much it’s hurting him.”
“A first class tribute to George Alagiah from Clive Myrie this afternoon,” a third wrote.
Poor Clive Myrie is doing an exceptional job holding it together while announcing George Alagiah's death on BBC News at One.
It must be so difficult announcing the death of someone who was a beloved friend & colleague on national tv. Tom Bradby had the unimaginable difficult task with the passing of Emily Morgan, I was moved to tears then as I have just been at Clive Myrie remembering George Alagiah.
George Alagiah OBE was born in Sri Lanka before moving to Ghana and then England, joining the BBC as a foreign affairs correspondent in 1989.
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Over the course of his career, he won multiple accolades for his reports on the famine and war in Somalia in the early 1990s. He received a BAFTA nomination for covering Saddam Hussein’s genocidal campaign in 1994, which the same year he was named Amnesty International’s journalist of the year.
He had been one of the BBC News at Six’s main presenters for almost two decades.
Featured Image – BBC
TV & Showbiz
Adult film star and LGBTQ+ icon Sophie Anderson dies aged 36
Danny Jones
Adult film star and much-loved LGBTQ+ icon Sophie Anderson has sadly died aged just 36, as confirmed by colleague, influencer and friend Rebecca More.
The recognisable UK porn star and internet personality, best known for being one-half of the viral online duo ‘C*ck Destroyers’ alongside More, was announced dead on Tuesday, 5 December following reports from numerous media outlets before being confirmed by her former co-star.
Sharing the news on social media, Rebecca wrote: “I’m devastated hearing the awful news of Sophie’s passing. We shared some amazing times together and that’s how I’m going to remember her.
Anderson’s death comes just over a fortnight after the shocking passing of her boyfriend, Oliver Spedding (a.k.a. ‘Damian Oliver’), another fellow actor in the adult industry and former Crystal Palace youth player. Neither his nor her cause of death has been released at this time.
As the statement goes on to say, she describes the Bristol-born performer as “the bubbly, funny, kind-hearted soul who was outrageous on the outside but also so gentle behind closed doors.”
Despite having parted ways following a fall-out back in May 2021, More insisted: “We were very close, and we shared a crazy time together that was totally unique to us. That’s how I will remember her.”
She signed off by adding, “This is so tragic but I know you are now at peace. I will always, always love you and hold a special place in my heart”.
Her heartfelt sentiment was echoed online as countless people on social media have paid tribute to the viral sensation who was an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and all things queer culture, as well as sex positivity in general.
Sophie Anderson, social media superstar and 1/2 of the C*ck Destroyers, has passed away. She was a champion of sex positivity, an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and a truly joyous member of the community.
As mentioned, it was only on 17 November that her ex-partner Spedding himself passed away, but the former footballer was also disturbingly found to be the one behind previous claims she had died that turned out to be a hoax earlier this year.
Regardless, the news unfortunately appears to be genuine this time and it’s clear from the reaction online how saddened so many people from all walks of life are to learn of her passing.
Rest in peace.
We’re so sad to hear about the death of Sophie Anderson.
Sophie and Rebecca have done so much to support our work — taking on challenges to raise money and tackle HIV stigma.
Jason Manford blasts theatre-goers after showing the ‘shocking’ state of litter on the Opera House floor
Danny Jones
Comedian and performer Jason Manford has criticised theatre-goers for leaving the floor of one of Manchester’s most beloved venues covered in litter and in a “shocking” state following one of his recent performances.
Currently part of the ongoing Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime run, Manford shared a social media post revealing the amount of rubbish left on the floor of the Manchester Opera House following the cast’s show to the general public.
Opening the video by stating, “Look at the bloody tip people leave”, the Salford-born stand-up, singer, actor and presenter asked, “Why do people do this?”
Posting the short clip on Instagram along with the caption, “What’s your take on litter inside a theatre? Is it [the] audience or staff’s responsibility? What d’ya reckon?”, the video itself has comments turned off but has already sparked plenty of discussion online.
The 42-year-old went on to urge people attending the show, or any theatre production for that matter to clean up after themselves, noting that there was rubbish of some form on “every single row”.
Manford, who is starring as Jack, labelled the behaviour unbelievable and argued, “You wouldn’t treat you’re own home like that, would you?”
Citing that his days working front-of-house in cinemas might have coloured his opinion on the matter, he said it takes very little effort to simply pick up your refuse and find the nearest bin on the way out and the majority of people reacting online are in overwhelming agreement.
One commenter underneath his post on X said, “People’s responsibility. Why can’t people just do the right thing and take their litter home with them ?? Or use a bin nearby??”, while most agreed at the very least that aside from accidental spillages, it’s just “common courtesy”.
Agree it’s insane. People never used to eat during performances, why now?! Maybe it’s because it’s so expensive now they feel entitled to do it 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
Another person went so far as to say: “People are disgusting. Personally, I’d ban food and drink in theatres and cinemas.
“It totally ruins the experience for me, listening to people chomping and slurping their way through the performance.”
Jason’s turn in Jack and The Beanstalk began on Thursday and is set to run until the end of the year — here’s hoping this public callout will mean the theatre staff have less mess to clean up going forward.
It isn’t Manford’s only big stage production here in Manchester city centre either, as the local legend is also hosting The Big Night of Musicals in 2024.
Emily Sergeant -
24th July 2023 
