Susanna Reid remembers Bill Turnbull

Good Morning Britain’s  Susanna Reid has paid an emotional tribute to her former colleague and friend Bill Turnbull live on today’s Good Morning Britain.

Interrupting her summer break, Susanna joined presenters Kate Garraway and Ben Shepherd to reflect on Bill’s life. Bill sadly passed away on Wednesday aged 66, following a challenging fight with prostate cancer after having been diagnosed with the disease in 2017.

Commenting on footage she narrated as a tribute to Bill on the show, Susanna said, “It’s interesting listening to that tribute, because I can hear in my voice I was absolutely knocked sideways yesterday by the loss of Bill. I’m so glad that all that humour is in the tribute to him there because he was such a funny person to be around. He was so much fun to be with, and I don’t want to sound sombre talking about him, because he had such a sense of humour.”

She described Bill, who she presented BBC Breakfast with, as “a rare breed skilled at interviewing prime ministers and pop stars on the same sofa in a no-nonsense style” and was keen to highlight his “wicked sense of humour” too.

Susanna continued: “He threw himself into [work] and was a stickler for it when he was doing it. But for him the most important thing in his life was home, was family, was his wife Sesi and his children, was his dogs, his bees. Everything for Bill was in perspective.”

On his time guest presenting on Good Morning Britain, Susanna said: “When he crossed channels and became a guest presenter on Good Morning Britain, it was just like old friends reuniting,” and she explained how hilarity ensued when his earpiece popped out live on air.

Of his diagnosis, Susanna said: “He very much lived with his cancer, didn’t he? He lived every moment that he could. I think we all feel robbed that there was only five years between the diagnosis and losing him. I especially feel for Sesi, his wife and his children and his family today.

Popular duo, Bill Turnbull & Susannah Reid on BBC Breakfast.

“I know that there are viewers who will be watching right now, who will have seen him talk about his cancer, seen him talk about that reluctance of men in particular to go to the doctor and will have heard him talking about those symptoms, and whose lives will undoubtedly have been saved because of what he said.”

Susanna added: “Bill said, If there was one useful thing he did in his life, it was to be open about going to get yourself checked. The doctors and the cancer charities, say, there was this remarkable ‘Turnbull-Fry Effect ‘ – an increase of a third in the numbers of men going to get checked and treatment for prostate cancer, because Stephen Fry was also inspired by Bill. They sort of motivated each other.

“It wasn’t the only useful thing Bill Turnbull did. He was remarkable on air. He was a remarkable person off air. But I know that he was glad that being open about what happened to him and other people.”

“There’s a paragraph that I wanted to read because these really hit home to me when I read them. He’s said this after his diagnosis, ‘You have to be positive, don’t you? I know, I’m not going to get cured, and I’m realistic about the long term prospects. Most importantly, I really do think I’ve had a wonderful life with amazing experiences as a reporter and a presenter. And if it was all to end tomorrow, I couldn’t have any complaints. I’ve had a really marvellous time.'”

Susanna added: “I am so grateful to have known him, so grateful to have worked with him, so grateful he was here as well with all of us on Good Morning Britain in the last couple of years because that meant so much to our viewers. He was really magnificent.”

BBC Breakfast also today dedicated most of their progamme to celebrate the life and work of Bill, which included a live link to Susanna at the GMB Studios.

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