Lorraine Kelly pauses ITV show to announce the tragic death of co-star
Lorraine Kelly was forced to pause her ITV morning showing to emotionally announce the death of one of her co-stars. Following an ad break on Monday's episode (7 October), the TV host told viewers that a member of her Change + Check Choir had sadly died from secondary breast cancer.
The choir was formed on Lorraine from women who found their breast cancer after seeing the programme's breast checking campaign, with singer Joss Stone helping them release their debut song Golden last year. It was written to reflect experiences and raise awareness, as well as to encourage more people to check their breasts.
Choir member Heather Sawyer, who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, died on 5 October aged 50, her husband announced on social media.
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Lorraine, 64, said: "I'm very sorry to have to share some sad news this morning. One of our amazing singers, Heather Sawyer, has died from secondary breast cancer. Heather was only 50 years old, an astonishing woman." She added: "She was such a huge part of the choir, so passionate about everything. Amazing."
Appearing alongside Lorraine, Dr Hilary Jones added: "Wonderful lady. She sang at the Palladium with the choir to celebrate the Change + Check campaign. And what she would want right now is for us to celebrate her life, and also to remind women to check themselves. Do the self-examination, if anything has changed, go and see your GP and get it sorted out as soon as possible."
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Lorraine concluded: "Absolutely. She absolutely would and we're sending all of our love to everybody who loved Heather. A very, very special lady."
Taking to Instagram, Heather’s husband Lee wrote: “Shortly before 1am this morning 5th October Heather lost her fight to cancer and took her last breaths and passed away peacefully. We know just how many people have followed Heather’s journey and how many lives she has touched from the sheer volume of messages, voice notes, the flood of the #hevupsocials hashtag…
“We as a family want to firstly thank each and every one of you beautiful people who have visited, sent well wishes and thought of Heather during this time. It has not gone unnoticed and we will be forever grateful to each and every one of you as you all made her know just how loved she was in her final days.”
Lee had previously revealed that Heather's cancer had spread to the left side of her brain and that she had been moved to a hospice to be made comfortable in her final days.
