- The presenter, 51, revealed last month that her marriage to husband Graham Swift is ‘hanging on by fingernails’
Sarah Beeny has revealed her father Richard has died.
The presenter, 51, took to Instagram to share an emotional tribute, where she described him as ‘wonderful and a lover of life.’
Richard’s passing is just the latest blow for Sarah after her battle with breast cancer last year, and her recent revelation that her marriage to husband Graham Swift is ‘hanging on by fingernails’.
Posting a gallery of snaps with her dad, Sarah captioned the post: ‘Goodbye my wonderful, fun, supportive, lover of life, father – thank you for just being you – may you rest in peace xxxx.’
Sarah shared a slew of snaps of her architect father Richard, including one snap taken on her wedding day.
Sarah previously revealed Richard’s health struggles after he suffered a stroke six years ago.
She said she didn’t want to reveal his diagnosis to him in case he mistook her for her late mother.
She told The Telegraph: ‘He sometimes knows who I am, then sometimes he doesn’t remember. He knows that his first wife died of breast cancer.
‘He gets lots of things muddled up and my fear is that I tell him, and tell him I’m going to be fine, but he’d remember the fact that I’d got it but not that I was going to get better. He’d think I was my mother.’
Sarah, who battled breast cancer last year, recently revealed she underwent surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes.
She previously revealed their marriage was ‘hanging by fingernails’ after her breast cancer battle in a candid new interview.
Sarah was given the all clear in April 2023 and in June she released her documentary Sarah Beeny vs. Cancer which detailed her cancer journey including her double mastectomy.
This week, Sarah had further surgery after testing positive for the PALB2 gene mutation as she shared a photo of herself and Graham embracing outside hospital.
Giving her fans an update to Instagram she wrote: ‘Turns out little day surgery to whip out my ovaries and tubes as the last tick box after testing positive for PALB2 gene mutation.’
She added: ‘Isn’t quite the walk in the park I expected and flipping smarts – not feeling quite as jolly as when G dropped me this morning….. x’
The gene called PALB2, which was only discovered in 2006, raises the risk of breast cancer when mutated, like the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
Earlier this week, Sarah has reflected on her relationship with artist Graham, who took a break from his lucrative career in art to work on renovating their former dairy farm, saying they have both admitted they stayed together for their teenage kids.
They share four children, sons Billy, 18, Charlie, 16, Rafferty, 14, and Laurie, 12.
Speaking on the The Mid.Point podcast with Gabby Logan, Sarah admitted: ‘We’re hanging on in there by our fingernails. I mean, it’s not easy, is it?
‘Graham always said, ‘The day we have to work at our marriage, I’m going to leave’. And I was like, ‘Really?’ But I think he has had to work at it to be honest.’
The star then admitted: ‘I was being particularly horrible, because I have been a bit horrible in the last couple of years to be honest at times.
‘I was being particularly horrible and he said, ‘you know the thing is Sarah, you’re not prepared to leave and have your children half the time, and neither am I, so we’re going to stay together.’
‘And we’re going to stay together happily or unhappily, so which would you like it to be?’ And I was like, oh that is quite dark, isn’t it?
‘He said ‘you wanna be happy or unhappy, because either way we’re still going to live together’, so I was like, ‘OK we’ll do happy then, shall we?’ he was like, ‘what a good idea.
‘Maybe you should be a bit nicer?’ I was like, ‘yeah alright I will.’ So logical, isn’t it?’
Sarah also told how she spoke about their issues with her older brother Diccon who gave her some firm but fair advice.
She said: ‘I rang my brother … and said, ‘right that’s it, Graham’s being so annoying, I think we’re going to split up,’ and he listened to me for ages, yeah, yeah, yeah, he said, ‘I get it Sarah, it must be horrendous being married to him.
‘The only thing I think that could be worse is being married to you.’ So I suggest you go and make up! So all is well.’
The pair married in 2002 after meeting on a blind date when she was just 18.
Back in 2014, Sarah shed light on some of the unique elements of their relationship, saying: ‘I’ve never told my husband I loved him because he’d just tease me and he said them to me either…
‘It’s just a word and I don’t think my relationship with my husband is like anyone else’s so I wouldn’t want to use the same word that everyone uses…
‘I don’t like the word ‘love’ because it has all sorts of connotations of what Hallmark cards say you should do and I don’t think love is predictable…
‘It doesn’t necessarily happen on the 14th of February and it doesn’t come from a card shop and have sparkly red hearts on it – it’s just making somebody know that you care about them.’
Sarah recently revealed she’s undergone gene testing to determine her family’s risk of developing cancer, after her own battle with the disease.
The star was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2022 and underwent gruelling chemotherapy, as well as a double mastectomy.
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.
