Bill Turnbull: Tributes paid to broadcaster at funeral

Friends and colleagues of former BBC broadcaster Bill Turnbull have paid tribute to him at his funeral service.

Turnbull, who hosted BBC Breakfast for 15 years and was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018, died on 31 August, aged 66.

His funeral service was held at the Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh in Suffolk, where he had lived.

His BBC Breakfast co-host Sian Williams said he was "an extraordinary man".

Other broadcasters, including Charlie Stayt, Susanna Reid and Naga Munchetty, were among those at the service.

Turnbull's two sons and son-in-law were among the six pallbearers carrying his oak coffin, adorned with a red rose and purple bouquet, into the church.

Other famous names who attended included Martha Kearney, Mike Bushell, Louise Minchin, Charlotte Hawkins and Nick Robinson.

Williams, his friend of 30 years and BBC Breakfast co-host for more than a decade, said: "Bill was an extraordinary man and I don't think he quite ever realised the impact he had on other people.

"I met somebody just yesterday at the hospital where I work - he was a porter and he said 'I went to get checked [for prostate cancer] because Bill told me to' and that impact has been felt throughout the UK.

"He was a mate, he was a very loyal friend, and he was great to sit next to for 11 years. We trusted one another and respected one another... I'll remember him with a smile, he made me laugh."

Turnbull hosted BBC Breakfast for 15 years and also fronted Songs of Praise and game show Think Tank.

After leaving the BBC in 2016, he joined Classic FM and continued presenting shows on the network until recently.

A signed Wycombe Wanderers shirt with the number 60 had been placed on a bench outside the church to mark Turnbull's support for the football club.

Current BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty, who shared the red sofa with Turnbull for several years, said: "He was passionate about the job and passionate about the journalism and passionate about the audience.

"The audience was all that mattered, and all that does matter, and Bill never forgot that - he was a joy to sit beside."

She added that she would remember Turnbull as a "funny, charming, cheeky guy".

Williams added: "I wish he were able to understand how much he was valued, and I think it is incredible the number of people here who just wanted to come and celebrate and pay their respects to him.

"I think the reason that so many people have turned out today to pay their respects - to think about him and share memories of him and to celebrate him - is because he was a good man."

Robinson, presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, said he was "going to miss him terribly".

"People sometimes say people who present TV shows get paid a vast amount of money, they get a lot of praise and it's easy. And it is easy, but the funny thing is hardly anybody can do it well," he said.

"Bill Turnbull did it brilliantly because he was a seriously good journalist, but he also was a human being who could reach out, empathise and be warm with people, from presidents, kings and queens down to people talking about their pets."

David Kogan, one of Turnbull's former editors, said he was "as close to me as a brother could be".

"As a friend he was a very funny companion with whom I went on long trips, we listened to music, we went to football, he was a man who had great depth of personality and character, great depth of friendship and family. He was a great guy," he said.

"I've witnessed Bill for the last five years fighting this illness with incredible strength of will, and his family also fighting it with their incredible levels of support, and in the last few weeks of his life, when the battle was clearly being lost, he was a man who was not going to give up life easily.

"It was a tragic moment when we lost him; we lost him far too young; it is a very emotional day and we will miss him."

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]