GMB remember Lynn Faulds Wood

John Stapleton and his son Nick spoke about the loss of TV presenter and campaigner Lynn Faulds Wood.

Lynn Faulds Wood and John Stapleton on ITV’s Mr and Mrs gameshow.

“I’m being comforted greatly by the presence of Nick and his wife Lisa who have moved in with me, both emotionally and practically. Because as you know when you have a horrible thing like this happen, as well as everything else, you have to do a whole load of horrible admin and it’s got to be tackled, the will, the pensions, the various accounts etc… I wouldn’t have got through the last week if it wasn’t for them.” – John Stapleton

John, who married Lynn in 1977, added his wife was out clapping for the careers shortly before being taken ill.

“She was there as enthusiastic as ever. We came back in and we sat down and watched a movie on television, she tried to get up off the sofa and collapsed. To cut a long story short, I realised what had happened, called an ambulance and she was taken to Charing Cross Hospital and died the following day at midday with Nick and Lisa there,” he explained.

He said she was living with a condition called AFS, which can cause blood clots and strokes. John continued: “Women are five times more likely to get it than men, no one really knows why… it is connected to conditions like lupus which Lynn’s mother died from.”

He urged people to seek advice if they had any of the symptoms.

Nick added: “There are quite a lot of symptoms… they are very complex and difficult, and mum lived for four years with this condition on quite a lot of medication. It’s possible to lead a long life when you have this, but unfortunately the medication is that strong it can have quite severe side effects, as it did with Mum.”

On her openness about her bowel cancer, John said: “When Lynn started campaigning there were people in our business… who couldn’t bring themselves to say the word cancer… Lynn would have none of that of course.”

John Stapleton, right, with GMTV co-host Penny Smith.

He continued to explain how his wife even persuaded Prince Charles to “talk poo” one day when she launched one of her famous charity campaigns. John said: “You are quite right, she saved thousands of lives. She was still doing it right at the end… she would always find some ray of hope.”

John and Lynn became regular faces on breakfast television in the 1980s both starting on TV-am’s original Good Morning Britain before switching to BBC One’s Breakfast Time. It was there they launched a segment called Watchdog and when it became a consumer programme in its own right it was John and Lynn who fronted it for its first seven years. During this time Lynn spearheaded several campaigns including making kettles and microwaves safer.

Speaking about her friendship with Lynn, Lorraine Kelly explained the presenter was the first person she met when she started on TV-am on her very first day. She said: “I don’t know what I would have done [without speaking to her]… I will never forget that. Of course they know her as a campaigner and a pioneer, but the real person was the kindest woman.”

Nick concluded: “She was an amazing mum to me obviously and a fantastic mentor to a lot of people… she was a fantastic person.”

Talking about not being able to have lots of friends at the funeral, John said his son did a wonderful tribute to his mother. He concluded: “We had ten people there, that was all we were allowed… When we all can get together we are all going to have one hell of a day to celebrate Lynn’s life.”

Good Morning Britain airs from 6am on ITV.

John Stapleton, centre, with TV-am co-stars L-R, Nick Owen, Wincy Willis, Lizzie Webb and Anne Diamond.