Veteran broadcaster John Stapleton dies peacefully in hospital aged 79 after Parkinson's battle

Stapleton, who presented for LBC and on ITV's GMTV, passed away on Sunday morning.

He had a long career in journalism, having been best known for presenting GMTV's News Hour.

His agent, Jackie Gill, said: "John had Parkinson's disease, which was complicated by pneumonia.

"His son Nick and daughter-in-law Lisa have been constantly at his side and John died peacefully in hospital this morning."

John revealed his Parkinson's diagnosis in October 2024 in a segment on Good Morning Britain.

The broadcaster was pragmatic about the diagnosis, telling the programme: "There's no point in being miserable... It won't ever change.

"I mean, Parkinson's is here with me now for the rest of my life. Best I can do is try and control it and take the advice of all the experts."

John presented the BBC consumer affairs show Watchdog between 1985 and 1993 with co-presenter and wife Lynn Faulds Wood, who passed away following a stroke in 2020.

John used to stand in for LBC's Iain Dale when he was on holiday.

Iain told us: "He would cover me and then when I came back, he would always say 'I don't know how you do this. Four hours every night, and I nearly fall asleep in the last hour!'

"He said presenting on LBC was the most difficult job in journalism and broadcasting that he'd ever done. And I think a lot of people who come to radio from the world of television imagine that it's going to be relatively easy and I think he initially found it a bit of a struggle.

"But the audience has loved him because he kept it real. He was himself. He would talk about his life. People just knew that there was no side to John. What you saw was what you got.

"That's not always the case with everyone in the world of broadcasting".