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
James Acaster reveals eerie song all Traitors contestants are forced to listen to before every roundtable
Emily Sergeant
James Acaster has revealed the eerie (and pretty surprising) song that all Traitors contestants are forced to listen to before every roundtable.
In case you’ve been living comfortably under a rock, you’ll probably be aware that comedian James Acaster is currently a contestant on this current season of BBC‘s smash-hit reality TV competition show, The Celebrity Traitors – a show that viewers in their millions are tuning into each week, with some big names on the cast.
Acaster is currently (spoiler alert… but it shouldn’t be at this point, we are several weeks in after all) one of three Traitors competing on the show, and he’s doing a pretty good job at it.
But we wonder how much of his success can be put down to the producers’ love of a certain song they like to play before every roundtable? Probably next to none, but it’s surprising to find out how much of an integral role the tune plays though.
The song we’re referring to here, it has been revealed, is ‘The Hanging Tree’ – a folk ballad made popular by The Hunger Games.
‘The Hanging Tree’, composed by James Newton Howard and Suzanne Collins, was famously sung by Jennifer Lawrence’s character Katniss Everdeen in the third instalment of the film franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.
The lyrics are as follows:
Are you, are you Coming to the tree Where they strung up a man They say who murdered three? Strange things did happen here No stranger would it be If we met at midnight In the hanging tree
So, as you can see, the song does make reference to ‘murder’, which is a key part of The Traitors game (not real murder, of course), but even with that context, we’re still not sure why the producers are keen to play it out before every roundtable.
During a viral TikTok clip from an on-stage Q&A this week, Acaster revealed the song’s usage to the audience: “You all walk in silence down the corridor, and you all sit down, and they don’t announce it’s gonna happen.
“The first time this will completely blindside you, but they do it every single roundtable. They play that song from The Hunger Games, that ‘coming to the tree’ song. Like acapella, Jennifer Lawrence.”
He continued: “It was every f***ing time, it was the only song we heard the whole time we were in there, and all day I would have it in my head constantly, everyone would, I’d go ‘have you got coming to the tree in your head?’ and they’d go ‘yes, it’s in my head, again’.”
Viewers who watch the show may have spotted the song being played in the background or transition between certain scenes, but now it’s been revealed that the contestants hear it too.
Who would’ve thought?
Featured Image – Euan Cherry / BBC / Studio Lambert
TV & Showbiz
One Born Every Minute is returning to TV – and this time, it’s filmed in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The BAFTA-award winning documentary series One Born Every Minute is returning to our screens this week – and this time, it’s been filmed in Manchester.
The hit series ran for 11 seasons between 2010 and 2018, before taking a break.
But Channel 4’s acclaimed series will return from 25 October, following a whole new set of parents as they welcome new arrivals in one of the UK’s busiest maternity wards – Manchester’s St Mary’s Hospital.
Viewers will be taken back onto the wards for a new series of the observational documentary series, following the intimate, emotional journey of childbirth in 12 new episodes.
They’re promising that this latest season of One Born Every Minute will capture modern Britain, highlighting evolving family dynamics, advances in maternity care, and the real-life challenges faced by NHS staff in 2026.
Vivienne Molokwu, Senior Commissioning Editor, Reality & Entertainment and Commissioning Lead for E4 said: “Nearly 10 years on, we feel very privileged to once again follow the journey that parents embark on as they welcome their babies to the world.
“We know the roller coaster of emotions that this period brings is something that will really resonate with the E4 audience, and we cannot wait for our viewers to see how the digital age has reshaped how families navigate this stage of life.”
Will Rowson, Co-Creative Director at Dragonfly TV added: “There’s such affection for One Born Every Minute, and we’re thrilled to return to it. In the years it’s been away so much around pregnancy and maternity care has changed, making this an exciting moment to reimagine the show for an E4 audience.”
One Born Every Minute will return to E4 on Sunday 25 October at 9pm.
Emily Sergeant -
24th July 2023 
