
Michael Mosley's family reflect on one year since TV doctor's death
Mosley, who died aged 67 while on holiday with his wife Dr Clare Bailey Mosley on the Greek island of Symi last year, was known for popularising diets and fronting science programmes.
His wife wrote on Instagram: 'It's hard to believe that a year has passed since we lost Michael. Not a day goes by without thinking of him – his warmth, his laughter, his endless curiosity about the world, and his deep love for our family.
'This past year has been the hardest of our lives. Navigating the loss of someone so central to our hearts and our home has changed everything. We have missed him in the big moments and the small ones. But we have also felt incredibly supported.
'The outpouring of love, stories and memories from so many of you has meant more than we can ever say. We have taken real comfort in knowing just how many lives Michael touched – not only through his work, but through his kindness, humour, and deep desire to help people live well for longer.'
The message thanked 'everyone who has reached out, shared their grief, and carried us with their compassion, thank you. Your messages, letters and acts of remembrance have helped us through the darkest days.'
It continued: 'We are trying, as a family to look forward. To carry on the work Michael was so passionate about. To live with purpose and joy, as he would have wanted us to.'
'With love and deepest gratitude, Clare and the Mosley family.'
Last month, the family set up a research project to honour his memory, announcing that a new clinical research fellowship will be established in partnership with King's College London and the Chronic Disease Research Foundation (CDRF) to help improve the nation's metabolic health.
The Mosleys have been working with King's College London and the CDRF, who will administer the Michael Mosley Memorial Research Fund, to appoint a dedicated research scientist.
Mosley, known for fronting BBC and Channel 4 documentaries on health and diet, popularised the 5:2 diet, a form of intermittent fasting, through his book The Fast Diet.
His son Dr Jack Mosley, a GP registrar, who researched GLP-1 drug brands including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound with his father, has also written a book titled Food Noise: How Weight Loss Medication And Smart Nutrition Can Silence Your Cravings.
In December, a coroner said Mosley's death was 'indeterminate' and 'unascertainable', adding that it 'was most likely attributable either to heatstroke (accidental) or non-identified pathological cause'.
Mosley had presented BBC Radio 4's Just One Thing, and the BBC series Trust Me, I'm A Doctor, which looked at healthcare in Britain.
He would regularly push his body during various programmes, and in a 2014 documentary he ingested tapeworms for six weeks.
In a 2015 programme he made two black puddings out of his own blood to showcase its nutritional value.
The BBC honoured the doctor-turned-science broadcaster with a day dedicated to him in July 2024, when presenters and audiences where encouraged to do 'just one thing' to improve their wellbeing.
His wife Clare accepted the Hall of Fame Award at the British Podcast Awards on his behalf in September 2024.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
My elderly mother has never had an orgasm. Is it too late for her to try?
My 83-year-old mother recently confessed to me that she has never had an orgasm. My father has a terminal illness and, realistically, won't be with us much longer. My mum is therefore slowly and, with difficulty, contemplating a life without her partner of more than 50 years. I want to help her appreciate that a life without my dad can still be fulfilling, and I wonder whether a part of that could be to discover self-pleasure. Is that possible at her age? And, if so, could it be more traumatic to discover that she lived for so long without knowing the sensation of orgasm or sharing that with her partner? Just as importantly, is this a conversation that an adult child should have with their mother, and how should I go about it? I know a lot of people will feel uncomfortable about this, but I think it's great that your mother is able to talk to you about these issues. She may also be wanting to impart some wisdom to you, perhaps about how important women's pleasure is. And it's interesting she's spoken to you and not her friends. Did she ask for actual help? How was it couched? Your mother also has a condition which you asked me not to mention, and the medication for this can cause a reduction in desire or a heightened sexuality, so that is also something to consider. It may indeed be the latter, given the conversation happening now. There's a lot going on in your lives, not least the prospect of profound grief, and I am very sorry about your dad's illness. It's never too late to discover the joys of self-pleasure. I went to counselling psychologist and psychosexual and relationship therapist Jo Coker, who is also director of therapy and training standards at COSRT, the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists. She pointed out that it is not too late for your mum to have psychosexual and relationship therapy, either now or at a later date. 'Your parents' marriage has been a long one, and I expect your mother may have held on to the hope that an orgasm would eventually happen. Your father's illness not only ends that hope, but incurs great loss and grief at losing her life partner and considering her future. 'The good news is that of course she can be helped at 83 – 10% of people over 90 are still sexually active. If she does go to specialist therapy, the first thing would be to take a full history of her sexual development and sex life. Is there anything that may be preventing her from being able to orgasm?' There will also be questions relating to her understanding of sex, Coker explains. 'Women of your mum's generation may not be aware that clitoral stimulation is often needed to orgasm and there are several ways to achieve this.' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion If your mum does want to explore sex toys, Coker recommends taking into consideration 'age-related factors such as any physical issues'. The best way to broach this subject is to refer back to the conversation she had with you about not having had an orgasm, and explain that there are other ways beyond penetrative sex with another person. I am guessing you won't want to show her this reply, but that could be useful. Going to see a therapist may be a huge step – maybe one too far – for your mum, but it may also help her with the pre-emptive grief she feels. If we remove the idea of any sort of shame about sex, what we're left with is a conversation about pleasure. Yes, not many mothers and daughters discuss this, but that's not to say one can't or shouldn't. Every week, Annalisa Barbieri addresses a personal problem sent in by a reader. If you would like advice from Annalisa, please send your problem to Annalisa regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions. The latest series of Annalisa's podcast is available here. Comments on this piece are pre-moderated to ensure the discussion remains on the topics raised by the article. Please be aware that there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site.


The Guardian
44 minutes ago
- The Guardian
My elderly mother has never had an orgasm. Is it too late for her to try?
My 83-year-old mother recently confessed to me that she has never had an orgasm. My father has a terminal illness and, realistically, won't be with us much longer. My mum is therefore slowly and, with difficulty, contemplating a life without her partner of more than 50 years. I want to help her appreciate that a life without my dad can still be fulfilling, and I wonder whether a part of that could be to discover self-pleasure. Is that possible at her age? And, if so, could it be more traumatic to discover that she lived for so long without knowing the sensation of orgasm or sharing that with her partner? Just as importantly, is this a conversation that an adult child should have with their mother, and how should I go about it? I know a lot of people will feel uncomfortable about this, but I think it's great that your mother is able to talk to you about these issues. She may also be wanting to impart some wisdom to you, perhaps about how important women's pleasure is. And it's interesting she's spoken to you and not her friends. Did she ask for actual help? How was it couched? Your mother also has a condition which you asked me not to mention, and the medication for this can cause a reduction in desire or a heightened sexuality, so that is also something to consider. It may indeed be the latter, given the conversation happening now. There's a lot going on in your lives, not least the prospect of profound grief, and I am very sorry about your dad's illness. It's never too late to discover the joys of self-pleasure. I went to counselling psychologist and psychosexual and relationship therapist Jo Coker, who is also director of therapy and training standards at COSRT, the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists. She pointed out that it is not too late for your mum to have psychosexual and relationship therapy, either now or at a later date. 'Your parents' marriage has been a long one, and I expect your mother may have held on to the hope that an orgasm would eventually happen. Your father's illness not only ends that hope, but incurs great loss and grief at losing her life partner and considering her future. 'The good news is that of course she can be helped at 83 – 10% of people over 90 are still sexually active. If she does go to specialist therapy, the first thing would be to take a full history of her sexual development and sex life. Is there anything that may be preventing her from being able to orgasm?' There will also be questions relating to her understanding of sex, Coker explains. 'Women of your mum's generation may not be aware that clitoral stimulation is often needed to orgasm and there are several ways to achieve this.' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion If your mum does want to explore sex toys, Coker recommends taking into consideration 'age-related factors such as any physical issues'. The best way to broach this subject is to refer back to the conversation she had with you about not having had an orgasm, and explain that there are other ways beyond penetrative sex with another person. I am guessing you won't want to show her this reply, but that could be useful. Going to see a therapist may be a huge step – maybe one too far – for your mum, but it may also help her with the pre-emptive grief she feels. If we remove the idea of any sort of shame about sex, what we're left with is a conversation about pleasure. Yes, not many mothers and daughters discuss this, but that's not to say one can't or shouldn't. Every week, Annalisa Barbieri addresses a personal problem sent in by a reader. If you would like advice from Annalisa, please send your problem to Annalisa regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions. The latest series of Annalisa's podcast is available here. Comments on this piece are pre-moderated to ensure the discussion remains on the topics raised by the article. Please be aware that there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site.


Telegraph
44 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The awkward hell that is the holiday pool – and how to survive them
Call me a summer grinch, but I despise communal pools. I fail to adapt, as other humans seem capable of, to the bizarre parallel universe in which it's socially acceptable to plod around in what are essentially your underpants just because you're occupying the perimeter of a cube of chlorinated water. In what other situation does one casually bend over in their knickers, mere feet from a stranger, to pick up a book? None. And assuming you're fine with that, why does it become weird even to cross the threshold from the hotel pool area to the adjoining restaurant without covering up and donning shoes? This makes no sense. But I digress. It is summer, and now that I am a mother, I must tolerate pools. Gone are the days when I would simply avoid them (except for very expensive, scrupulously clean, adults-only ones). I'm back in the deep end, thrust among all the aspects that made me eschew them for much of my adult life. It would all be more manageable, as far as I'm concerned, if certain rules were adhered to. So allow me to propose an etiquette guide to the modern-day survival of holiday pools. Starting with the key issue of… Nudity As I have already touched upon, loitering around in public with your privates shrink-wrapped in flimsy fabric and the rest of your flesh on show is inherently awkward and weird. That said, it is not (nor should it be) illegal in Western society to be mostly nude in a public swimming scenario, and to take offence to those who show even more skin than others (donners of thong bikinis and budgie smugglers – or even topless sunbathers) is prudish and pathetic. Anything goes when it comes to minimal attire. Ogling The same goes for people who get overly pearl-clutchy about being checked out by the pool. If nobody is wearing clothes, what do you expect? This goes for both men and women. Body positivity activists will lie and say 'no-one is looking at you on the beach' or 'no-one cares what you look like in a bikini'. What rubbish. Everybody looks and everybody judges; it's not a massive deal so let's move on. Obviously the line is crossed when ogling turns to harassment but most of us are grown-up enough to know the difference. Screaming children Arguably the most unpleasant variable when it comes to public swimming. Little ones are loud, destructive, unpredictable and splashy – and I say this as the mother of a toddler. Wherever possible, they should be siphoned off into their own dedicated pools so as to concentrate the misery away from non-families (kid-only sections on planes are another great idea). In smaller hotels, it really is the parents' responsibility to limit the chaos wrought by their children, or – if they're unwilling to do that – opt for self-catering accommodation that comes with a private pool. Side note: I put those who perform butterfly stroke at public pools in the same category as infants – noisy, splashy show-offs whose antics should be curbed. Sun-lounger nabbing The practice of rising early to colonise your preferred sunbed or row of sunbeds, by way of laying towels, then swanning off for breakfast and leaving them vacant, is totally unacceptable. And Britons are as guilty as anyone. Some years ago, German tabloid Bild monitored towel-laying activities at a Costa Brava hotel, and concluded that 'the English are the worst lounger squatters'. A recent YouGov survey (do they not have better research to be doing?) found that, among Britons, those living in the West Midlands were most guilty of the habit. Regardless, those who partake are a stain on humanity and if it were my resort and my rules, any towel left unattended on a sunbed around a high-traffic pool for longer than 30 minutes would be swiftly removed. Peeing in the pool I'm likely going to find myself in the minority here, but I think it's fine to pee in a swimming pool. And I suspect, much like farting on planes, more people do it that are willing to admit. Let's do the maths here. The average human urination amounts to 400ml. A standard public pool carries between 500,000 and 1,000,000 litres of water. That's a 1:1,000,000 dilution per pee. Considering most pools are circulated and filtered and that chlorine neutralises key components, you've got yourself a non-issue. PDA Public displays of affection. By which I mean poolside snogging and aquatic fondling. Again, I'm not saying this should be flat-out illegal, but it really is gross to behold for nearly everyone around and thus unnecessarily selfish. There are plenty of platforms on which to watch other people get jiggy, if that floats your lilo, but a poolside full of minors and married couples who have lost their spark is not the place to flaunt your honeymoon phase.