Celebrity Big Brother and racing star John McCririck dies aged 79 (metro.co.uk).
With a statement from the rep of the flamboyant, quintessentially British eccentric horse racing pundit sacked from Channel 4 racing in 2012 with his pantomime persona and self-described bigoted and male chauvinist views deemed no longer palatable for a twenty-tens audience who found later reality TV fame with Celebrity Big Brother saying he had passed on at an unnamed London hospital.
“John jointed ITV in 1981 for Shergar’s Derby then became a household name as part of the Channel 4 Racing team when they took over coverage of the sport in 1984. His flamboyant broadcasting style from the heart of betting ring proved extremely popular with racing fans and beyond.”
With the loss of his racing gig seemingly causing the ever-outspoken pundit to predict his demise:
John McCririck predicted he wouldn’t survive the year in final interview (metro.co.uk).
“Racing was my life but now when I go I think: ‘What am I doing here?’ I feel like a dinosaur. You’re a lost soul wandering around an environment you’re no longer part of.”
John continued: “Life is empty. I don’t expect to be alive this time next year. It’s a question of slipping away.”
#RIPJohnMcCririck (Twitter).
Updated 6th July
John McCririck died after secret battle with lung cancer as sepsis left him ‘too weak’ to fight (metro.co.uk).
The star’s wife of 48 years Jenny has revealed that while John ‘defied science’ by beating sepsis, doctors discovered a cancerous tumour in January 2018, and the reality star was too weak to fight it.
Updated 7th July 2019
Edwina Currie brands John McCririck ‘misogynistic and rude’—but admits she’ll miss him (dailystar.co.uk).
With the ex-Conservative Health Secretary, who was forced to resign due to the salmonella-in-eggs controversy at the end of the 80s (Wikipedia) and who had an affair with later PM John “Fifty Shades of Grey” Major, forced to rely on reality TV too for attention on Channel 4 show, Celebrity Wife Swap on which they clashed.
“McCririck was intelligent, aggressive, misogynistic, rude and an anachronism in the modern world.
“But he will be mourned and he will be missed,” she told the Sunday Mirror.
But with voluptuous former bodybuilding Big Brother and now down on their luck migrant worker blaming Celebs On Benefits: Fame to Claim documentary (mirror.co.uk, Jun. 2015) star being more congenial, having met met on Big Brother’s Bit On The Side:
Lisa Appleton makes emotional tribute to ‘wise gentleman’ John McCririck (dailystar.co.uk).
Remembering the good times, Lisa, who is Daily Star Online’s new Sex Doctor, captioned the shot: “RIP John McCririck.
“Honour to have met and worked with you down the years.”
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