Lauren Laverne has stepped down from hosting Glastonbury coverage this weekend after the death of her 'compassionate and tenacious' mam Celia Gofton.
Sunderland born singer turned TV and radio host Lauren confirmed the news on social media, just as Celia was looking forward to watching Sir Paul McCartney in action at the world famous festival, with daughter Lauren now pulling out of any further BBC hosting duties from Worthy Farm this weekend.
Posting on Instagram, Lauren wrote: "Yesterday I lost my Mam, Celia. She was the kindest, most compassionate and most tenacious person I have ever met."
Talking about Celia's life, Lauren continued: "Born in the middle of nine kids, she was a master peacemaker and persuader. She passed her 11+ and went to grammar school which changed our family’s direction forever.
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"Met my Dad at 16 and loved him every day of her life. She ran the only reggae club night in the NE and told me that being young in the 60s felt like that line in Mr Tambourine Man “to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free”.
Celia was a well known face in the North East due to her hard work in the local community and career as a teacher and then city councillor. Talking about that, Lauren wrote: "She worked as a seamstress and a casino dancer (also making costumes for the troupe) to pay her way through college and became a wonderful teacher, eventually managing all Sunderland’s colleges. Somewhere along the line she had me and my brother and got political (she once chased someone from the BNP down our garden path with a rolling pin in one hand and me in the other arm) protested at Greenham Common and eventually became a city councillor."
Continuing to pay tribute to her late mother, Lauren wrote: "She delighted in helping people, especially those who like her knew what it was like to grow up without. She had watched so many decades of history documentaries that when we met historian Michael Wood they chatted away like colleagues. She loved children and was the most devoted and adored mother and grandmother you could ever meet. But she also knew that mother is a verb as well as a noun and mothered so many others along the way who needed love and support throughout her life. She made connections wherever she went including with the incredible teams at UCLH who cared for her - and us - at the end of her life."
Revealing that Celia was gearing up to watch Sir Paul at Glastonbury, Lauren added: "We are all utterly heartbroken to lose her. She had just given the kids their Glastonbury spending money and was looking forward to watching Paulie (as he was always known in our house - her favourite Beatle) tonight. She’d been a fan ever since she saw him at the Sunderland Empire in 1963."
Signing off her heartfelt tribute with a personal message for her mam, Lauren ended: "Thank you for my fantastic life. I have no idea what I’m going to do without you, but I’m going to try to make it interesting and you will be in my heart, always."
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