Dr Michael Mosley said he did not want to die “early” like his father, who lived to 74 years old, in a tragic interview given just before his death at age 67.
The TV star died of natural causes last week after he went missing on the Greek island of Symi. His body was found on Sunday in a rocky area near Agia Marina beach.
Speaking at the end of April the 67-year-old revealed his healthy lifestyle was driven by watching his own father, Bill, die before seeing his grandchildren grow up.
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“I thought, that's not a road I want to go down,” the father-of-four told The Daily Telegraph. “My dad, when he retired, basically sat on the sofa and watched sport and that was incredibly bad for him.”
Dr Mosley previously wrote in his regular column for the Daily Mail about how his father’s later years were “blighted“ by health issues, with a blood test finding he had raised PSA levels and he had to have “invasive” surgery to remove his prostate. His father, a banker, then died of unrelated heart failure years after the operation, he said.
The presenter said both he and his father ended up developing type 2 diabetes in their fifties. After he received his diagnosis in 2012, Dr Mosley was motivated to overhaul his own diet – and managed to beat the disease, while also inspiring countless others with his blood sugar diet and 5:2 diet.
The health guru said: “When my GP told me I should start medication, it shouldn't have been a shock, because my dad had developed diabetes around the same age. And he then died. I shouldn't have been shocked, but I was.
“I had seen what had happened to my father He had died at 74, which is early these days. That feels young. He hadn't seen his grandkids grow up. I thought, that's not a road I want to go down.”
Following the premature loss of his father, Dr Mosley said he and his wife Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, with whom he regularly collaborated, did not have “any intention of giving up work”, adding: “Why would you give up? I am quite happy to go on writing and giving public speeches and making telly and podcasts.”
The broadcaster and columnist, who first trained as a doctor, advocated intermittent fasting through the 5:2 diet and the fast 800 diet and presented science and medical documentaries on the BBC and Channel 4.
Dr Mosley was last seen leaving St Nikolas Beach at around 1.30pm on Wednesday, setting off for a coastal walk in searing heat without his mobile phone.
Tributes have been pouring in for the medic, whose loved ones have described him as “extremely kind” and a “brilliant science broadcaster” after his tragic death.
