Mirror columnist Fiona Phillips has shared her memories of working with “absolute gent” Bill Turnbull.
Like Bill’s television colleagues and fans, Fiona was devastated to hear the news he had died last week aged 66 after a battle with prostate cancer. After their time together she even started to think of the presenter as a brother.
Fiona said: “I just haven’t felt the same since hearing the awful news. He was just such a first-class human being.”
She recalls working closely with Bill on BBC1 daytime show Holding Back the Years, which ran from 2017 to 2018.
The 61-year-old says: “I knew Bill already through the fraternity of journalists, but that show was the first and last time I ever worked closely with him and we clicked straight away.
“We had such a great time. Bill and I were quite miffed at first that we’d been chosen to present it because it was called Holding Back the Years and we were like ‘Hang on a minute!’
“The show was about wellbeing for older people and it did well and we loved doing it. We laughed a lot, he was so wonderful to work with.
“We saw the funny side... but could also be serious. We were professionals who felt very privileged to be doing our jobs.
“We had a similar attitude, we just got on with things. He didn’t have an ego, unlike a lot of people in the business. I have always looked back at that as a lovely time.
“He was just so lovely, so caring and a gentleman. By the end of filming I just felt like he was my brother.”
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Fiona also admired how trustworthy Bill was, adding: “I never saw a bad side of him, there were never even any raised eyebrows. We respected each other, we enjoyed each other’s company.”
She remembers how Bill’s beloved wife of 34 years, Sarah “Sesi” McCombie, joined them once during filming.
Fiona says: “It was lovely being with them. Bill was absolutely besotted with her – the number of times he mentioned her when I was with him, they were very much in love. I just can’t imagine what she must be going through.
“I didn’t work with him for that long but I’d absolutely have trusted him with my life. He really was one in a million.”
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