Breakfast TV stars turn out as Bill Turnbull laid to rest at funeral service in Suffolk

The life and legacy of broadcaster Bill Turnbull has been celebrated at a funeral service attended by many of his BBC Breakfast TV colleagues.

Broadcasters including Sian Williams, Charlie Stayt, Susanna Reid and Naga Munchetty were among those who attended a private ceremony at Holy Trinity church in Blythburgh, Suffolk, on Friday afternoon, alongside family and close friends.

The former presenter died on August 31 aged 66 after a “challenging and committed fight against prostate cancer”, which was diagnosed in November 2017.

Turnbull’s two sons and son-in-law were among the six pallbearers carrying his oak coffin, adorned with a red rose and purple bouquet, into the church.

Williams, who anchored BBC Breakfast with Turnbull for more than a decade, told the PA news agency: “I think it is a day of sadness and reflection, and I hope sometime today there will also be time to celebrate his life because he was a great friend and a great man.

“And he has so many different connections to so many different people who cherish him that I hope we can have that time together where we can share those memories.

“I wish he were able to understand how much he was valued, and I think it is incredible the number of people here who just wanted to come and celebrate and pay their respects to him.

“Bill made a lot of friends and he was a very loyal friend and he was great to work with as a professional, but when you’re sitting alongside someone like that there is a lot of trust that goes with that.

“I think the reason that so many people have turned out today to pay their respects – to think about him and share memories of him and to celebrate him – is because he was a good man.

“He was a great bloke, he was great to work with, he was a great friend and you see that here with the number of people who wanted to express that.”

Williams said she would remember Turnbull “with a smile”.

Williams, who arrived dressed in black alongside broadcaster Reid, said she will remember Turnbull “with a smile”.

Turnbull joined BBC Breakfast in 2001 as a presenter alongside Williams and they worked together until 2012 when she left after the programme moved from London to Salford.

The presenter co-anchored alongside Reid until 2014 when she left the show to join ITV, and he was then joined by Louise Minchin and others. Turnbull signed off from the sofa in 2016 after 15 years.

Other famous names to attend included Martha Kearney, Mike Bushell, Charlotte Hawkins and Nick Robinson.

BBC Breakfast presenter Munchetty, who shared the red sofa with Turnbull for several years, told the PA news agency: “Bill was the grammar hammer; he was so on top of his grammar plurals, singulars… He was all over it.

“He was passionate about the job and passionate about the journalism and passionate about the audience.

“The audience was all that mattered and all that does matter and Bill never forgot that – he was a joy to sit beside.

“To sit next to Bill was always an experience, it was always fun, it was always focused but it was also about the audience.

“It was telling the story, being part of the story, which is always a privilege, and hearing people’s experiences and helping to relay those to our audience.

“It was the audience – that’s what Bill was about.”

Munchetty said she would remember Turnbull as a “funny, charming, cheeky guy”.

The broadcaster had been an avid supporter of Wycombe Wanderers during his life, and the club’s manager, Gareth Ainsworth, attended the funeral wearing black sunglasses.

A signed Wycombe Wanderers shirt with the number 60 had been placed on a bench outside the church as mourners filed in to celebrate the life of the veteran journalist.

Turnbull started his broadcasting career at Scotland’s Radio Clyde in 1978, joining the BBC as a reporter for Radio 4’s Today programme in 1986 before becoming a reporter for BBC’s Breakfast Time two years later.

In 1990, he became a correspondent for BBC News and reported from more than 30 countries, covering notable stories including the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the OJ Simpson trial in the US.

After moving back to the UK, he became one of the main presenters on BBC News 24, as it was then called.

Turnbull also worked for BBC Radio 5 Live, including presenting Weekend Breakfast.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in November 2017 and later fronted the Channel 4 documentary Bill Turnbull: Staying Alive.

Other notable TV appearances included BBC One’s Songs Of Praise and Strictly Come Dancing.

In 2016, he joined Classic FM, where he hosted programmes on Saturdays and Sundays, and also launched and presented Classic FM’s Pet Classics, to help keep pets and their owners relaxed during fireworks season.

Turnbull had a passion for beekeeping, leading to the 2011 publication of his book The Bad Beekeepers Club, a humorous account of the ups and downs of an apiarist.

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