Since Steve Wright was found dead at his London flat last month there has been an outpouring of grief for the much-loved broadcaster.
This has, apparently, annoyed his fellow BBC presenter Nicky Campbell, who questions the eulogising of Wright, who was 69.
Campbell, 62, concedes that the DJ, who had a heart bypass operation shortly after being axed from his Radio 2 afternoon slot, was a ‘great person’ and ‘really likeable’.
However, he goes on to say: ‘What kind of irks me, and I’ve got this from other people I’ve known who I felt were fantastic people and who have died, and all of a sudden everyone in a sense dehumanises them and says, ‘Oh, they were perfect in every way’, ‘They floated across the water’, and all that stuff.’
Speaking to Gabby Logan on The Mid.Point podcast, he adds: ‘It dehumanises them.
‘I feel like saying, ‘No. Steve was complex. He could be brittle and anxious.’
At this point in their conversation, Logan, who is also a BBC presenter, immediately changes the subject, not allowing Campbell to elaborate on his comments. Wright’s friend Mark Wells, the former controller of ITV entertainment, said it had been a ‘bolt from the blue’ when the popular DJ was axed from his long-running Radio 2 slot in 2022.
The show’s ratings had not dropped, plus it ‘felt as good as ever’ and he ‘was just shocked at the way it was handled, which I think was brutal’, Wells said.
Despite this, Wright stayed loyal to the BBC and turned down big-money offers from a commercial rival. He still enjoyed hosting Sunday Love Songs and Pick Of The Pops on the station, Wells added.
Wright, who divorced actress Cyndi Robinson in 1999, had an unhealthy lifestyle, said his brother Laurence.
Turner prize! Sophie shows off new beau
Just months ago, she seemed destined for a toxic divorce, initiating legal action against American singer Joe Jonas, with whom she has two young daughters.
But Sophie Turner, 28, radiated contentment as she headed to the Louis Vuitton after-party at Paris Fashion Week. The Game Of Thrones star clutched a Louis Vuitton bag which, a fashionista assures me, bears a price tag of £4,600.
Close at hand was Sophie’s new man, Perry Pearson, 29, heir to his father Viscount Cowdray’s title — and 16,000 West Sussex acres, part of the £220 million family fortune.
Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger admits he prevented his children sleeping in because he believes we all need some pain.
‘For my children, I say to them, “What are you doing in bed at seven o’clock in the morning?” Arnie says.
‘We have to tell this to our kids. There is no sleeping in. Forget this, “I want to be comfortable today”.
‘Let’s just struggle a little bit. It’s fun when you shoot after a certain goal and you struggle and you go through pain.
‘So many people today want to be comfortable. You rest, you rust. And so I never rest, I just keep going.
‘I have no tolerance for laziness.’
Triple vision at Westminster, where a new peer, Lord Cameron of Lochiel, chief of the Cameron clan, was introduced to the Upper House.
His two supporters in the ermine-robed ceremony were Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and Crossbencher Lord Cameron of Dillington.
Pity the parliamentary post- room staff who will have to make sure all those Camerons don’t receive one another’s letters.
Kaya inspired by pals’ scary mums
Kaya Scodelario, who plays a drug lord’s daughter in Guy Ritchie’s new Netflix drama series The Gentlemen, has a confession to make about her character, Susie Glass.
‘I did base her on my friends’ mums, because a few of my friends have dodgy families,’ she tells me at the world premiere at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
The actress, 31, who grew up in a council flat in North London, adds: ‘Their dads are, like, the geezers, and the mums were the ones that I was scared of — they know exactly what’s going on, they don’t have to say too much, they look immaculate but are terrifying.’
Scodelario, who wore a black strapless Sabina Bilenko Couture lace gown, adds: ‘What I loved about [her character] is I very rarely get to portray women that are really at the top of their game.’
Britain’s premier baronet, Sir Edward Dashwood, has been living up to his name.
He narrowly avoided a driving ban after being caught speeding for the third time in ten months.
Sir Edward, 59, whose forebear founded the notorious Hellfire Club, was caught on a camera in his Toyota Land Cruiser at Penryn in Cornwall in January. He was driving at 41 mph on a 30 mph road.
JPs considered imposing a disqualification but he told magistrates in Bodmin that he drives equipment on land at West Wycombe Park, his ancestral home in Buckinghamshire.
He said: ‘From a business side, it is absolutely fundamental to have a licence.’
He was given four more points, making a total of ten, and fined £1,022 with costs.
She is one of our most celebrated actresses, but Kate Winslet seemingly failed to captivate Stephen Frears, who was directing her in TV series The Regime.
During filming, in which the Oscar winner, 48, plays the leader of a fictitious European country, Frears fell asleep.
When Winslet called out to ask if the first take was ‘all right’, she received no response. Frears, 82, reports the New York Times, was ‘silent, with his eyes closed, his head back’.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
