BBC Blue Peter icon died penniless after dismissal from show for 'being difficult'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
A Blue Peter legend sadly passed away penniless after a nine-year stint on the renowned BBC children's show.
Christopher Trace embarked on his presenting journey at the tender age of 25 in 1958, and was the one to kick off the inaugural episode alongside co-host Leila Williams.
His television career flourished as he secured a regular presenting gig on the BBC Schools programme Signpost in 1961, a role he held for four years. Before his Blue Peter tenure, Trace even dabbled in acting, featuring in films such as The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1959 and Urge to Kill in 1960.
He also served as Charlton Heston's body double in the 1959 cinematic masterpiece Ben-Hur. Regrettably, things took a turn for the worse for the gifted star.
By 1967, Blue Peter chiefs were reportedly eager to replace Christopher on the show, citing his challenging behaviour on set, according to the Express.
His personal life also spiralled when his wife Margaret Cattrall sought divorce following Trace's infidelity with a 19 year old during a Blue Peter excursion to Norway, reports the Daily Record.
Christopher and his wife Meg were parents to two children, Jonathan and Jessica.
Trace bid farewell to Blue Peter in 1967 and gambled on a fresh business venture as a writer and production manager at a feature film company. Unfortunately, the job didn't pan out, resulting in the loss of his life savings.
Trace was declared bankrupt in 1973, just two years after tying the knot with Prudence Da. He found himself pulling pints in a Norwich pub and driving taxis to make ends meet.
Eventually, he managed to revive his television career by working on BBC's Nationwide, presenting regional programmes in East Anglia and hosting the breakfast radio show on BBC Norwich.
A source from that time recalled: "I remember him being strong on screen on BBC East.
"He was only there as his wife had kicked him out, he'd lost all his money and was drinking and eventually he went off to run a pub in Norwich."
However, by the mid-1970s, Trace largely stepped back from his media career and dabbled in various odd jobs.
One of these roles included a general manager position at an engineering factory.
Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community hereand get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
While working there, he lost two toes in an industrial accident and stopped coming into work.
Sadly, Trace passed away on 5 September 1992 at the age of 59 from oesophageal cancer, after battling the disease for the last five years of his life.
At the time of his death, he was residing in Walthamstow and was dependent on benefits.
In his final days, Trace was visited in hospital by fellow presenters Valerie Singleton and Biddy Baxter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
30 minutes ago
- BBC News
Jacky Jhaj: British man charged over mock Disneyland wedding to child had been investigated by BBC
The British paedophile charged in connection with organising a "mock wedding" to a child in Disneyland Paris is Jacky Jhaj, who was found guilty of sexual activity with two 15-year-olds in 2016, the BBC 39, has been charged in connection with organising the fake ceremony on Saturday, in which a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl was due to feature as his was arrested when police were called on Saturday morning by an actor who said he had been hired by Jhaj to play the father of the BBC has previously investigated how Jhaj was able to hire hundreds of children to act as his fawning fans at a fake film premiere in London's Leicester Square in 2023. Some of the children, who had been hired from casting agencies, were as young as girls told the BBC that they had been asked to scream for him and try to touch him, without being told his real identity by the agencies. Then in June last year, Jhaj was seen giving gifts to children outside dance auditions for another production - he was recognised by a parent who had seen the BBC months later, and following the BBC's further investigation, Jhaj was filmed posing naked in front of a mocked-up BBC News lorry in London which had been set on the mock wedding at Disneyland Paris, which was to be filmed by Jhaj's team, around 100 French extras had been recruited to take BBC understands that he appeared in front of a judge in Meaux, north-east of Paris, on Monday and was charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and identity theft and placed in pretrial findings also stated that he had allegedly been "made-up professionally so that his face appeared totally different from his own", according to the French prosecutor. Jhaj has been on the sex offenders register since 2016 and has spent time in prison. He is subject to restrictions on his freedoms under the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention he was released from prison, he has repeatedly staged productions involving children or young News can reveal that some videos of these productions were uploaded to a YouTube account styled as an official performer's account received more than six million views and had over 12 million subscribers.A video on a different channel included secretly filmed footage of one of the 15-year-old victims he was convicted of sexually family has told the BBC that Jhaj "destroyed" her life and said it's unacceptable that YouTube allowed the video to be watched for entertainment for four of the productions remained on YouTube for years until last September, when the BBC alerted Google, which owns the told the BBC at the time that it takes users' safety seriously, but offered no explanation as to how an account featuring a man with almost no profile or success had 12 million subscribers, or why the videos were not the past two years, the BBC has spoken to videographers, production assistants and technicians who worked on some of the events before they discovered Jhaj's real records show that the cost of hiring casts and venues has run into hundreds of thousands of cost of hiring the area in front of the Odeon cinema in London's Leicester Square, which hosts red carpet events for major Hollywood premieres, would have run into tens of thousands of pounds. French outlet BFMTV reported that the fake wedding at Disneyland may have cost organisers more than €130,000 (£110,000).It remains unclear how these elaborate productions have been French prosecutor said the Ukrainian girl arrived in France two days before the Disneyland event – but had not been a victim of either physical or sexual violence and had not been "forced to play the role" of a prosecutor's statement also said that Disneyland Paris had been "deceived" and that the organiser had used a fake Latvian ID to hire the venue. Disneyland Paris can be rented by members of the public outside opening a statement, the UK's Metropolitan Police said:"A 39-year-old man is wanted by the Met Police for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a breach of a Sex Offenders' Register notification requirement."We are aware the man has been arrested in France for other matters and officers are in contact with the French authorities."
Scottish Sun
32 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Sex-mad soap stars who caused chaos on set…from actor with uncontrollable libido who bedded 1000s to Dales love triangle
One actor began dating his co-star while his ex was pregnant with their baby PLOT TWIST Sex-mad soap stars who caused chaos on set…from actor with uncontrollable libido who bedded 1000s to Dales love triangle Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WHEN sparks fly on-screen, it's not surprising that romance sometimes blossoms when the cameras stop rolling. That seems to have been the case for Casualty hunk Olly Rix, who's dating another female co-star just months after his whirlwind fling with actress Helen George on Call the Midwife. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 18 Olly Rix is dating another female co-star just months after a whirlwind romance with Helen George Credit: splash news 18 Helen plays nurse, Trixie Franklin, while Olly played her husband, businessman Matthew Aylward in Call the Midwife Credit: bbc 18 Olly is now dating Casualty co-star Anna Chell, who plays nurse, Jodie Whyte Credit: bbc The 40-year-old, who plays surgeon Flynn Byron on the long-running BBC show, has grown close to Anna Chell, 28, who plays nurse Jodie Whyte. An insider said Olly is enjoying a "blossoming romance" with Anna, while snaps of the couple carving each other's names into stone feature on Olly's Instagram account. Here we take a look at other soap lotharios who fell for their co-stars - including a messy love triangle in the Dales and a Corrie legend who admits to an "uncontrollable" sex drive. Co-star fling while ex was pregnant In May 2022, we reported how EastEnders star Max Bowden, now 30, had grown close to his co-star Shona McGarty, now 33, after splitting from his pregnant lover, insurance exec Roisin Buckle, now 40. The actor, who played Ben Mitchell, assured his girlfriend he was not seeing anyone else when they separated. But Roisin claimed she found out Max was in a relationship with Shona just weeks after their split - and said he missed key scans and events, leaving her in tears. She gave birth to a baby boy in September 2022. Meanwhile Shona and Max - who went Instagram official days before Roisin's due date - broke up after six months of dating, but remained on good terms. Opening up about the split in June 2023, Shona told the Mirror: "We're actually better than ever. It's a friendship, we're such in a good place. "You take a risk, and you do something and it doesn't work out, but that's life, you've got to take that risk." Coronation Street and Emmerdale humiliated at British Soap Awards as rival soap wins EIGHT gongs 18 EastEnders star Max Bowden began dating his co-star Shona McGarty weeks after his split from his pregnant ex Credit: getty 18 Max's ex Roisin Buckle was left in tears by her ex moving on so fast Credit: Instagram 18 Max and co-star Shona McGarty dated for six months Credit: Instagram/@shonabmx Following his romance with Shona, Max moved on with fellow EastEnder Danielle Harold, 33, who played Lola Pierce. They secretly dated for a number of years before a bitter split which saw them unfollow each other on Instagram. Now Max - who was axed from EastEnders in December 2023 following a showdown with bosses over his party lifestyle - has gone public with his new girlfriend. He grew close to co-star Tori Allen-Martin 39, after appearing together on stage in the musical Midnight Cowboy. 'Axed over co-star romance' 18 Marc Bannerman stole the show in EastEnders as lothario Gianni di Marco Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 18 Marc dated Loose Women's Nadia Sawalha while she too was appearing on EastEnders Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Marc Bannerman, 51, was played lothario Gianni di Marco on EastEnders from 1998 to 2000 - having fibbed that he was half-Italian when he was actually born in Ireland. The heartthrob dated Loose Women's Nadia Sawalha, 60, while she too was appearing on the soap as businesswoman Annie Palmer, with whom his character had a fling. Marc was once so popular he claimed he had to donate a sack of knickers sent to him by female viewers to Oxfam. But he later claimed he was axed from EastEnders over his real-life romance with Nadia because it was lessening his appeal for female fans. After he was given the boot, Marc said he fell into depression, his weight ballooned to over 17st and his drinking spiralled. He told the Mirror: "I've not kept in touch with the other Di Marco actors because our departure was so traumatic. When I first found myself out of the show I didn't realise at the time but I started eating all the wrong things and I was boozing far too much." Marc was back in the spotlight in 2007 when he appeared on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here - and controversially grew close to his campmate Cerys Matthews. He was in a relationship with his Footballer's Wives: Extra Time co-star Sarah Matravers at the time, and confessed to behaving like a "rat", having broken his girlfriend's heart. Marc said: "I just developed feelings for someone in there and I've got a Mrs at home, I'm a rat. I can't look for a scapegoat. The buck stops here." Marc and Cerys continued dating post-jungle, but called it quits a year later. Cheating scandal 18 Peter Amory was accused of having an affair with an Emmerdale co-star while married to Claire King Credit: REX/Shutterstock 18 Claire claimed Samantha had apologised to her at Richard Thorpe's funeral Credit: ITV Claire King's Emmerdale character Kim Tate has had her share of agony, but the actress herself is no stranger to drama. In 1994 she married co-star Peter Amory, 60, who played her on-screen step-son Chris. But their 10-year marriage was derailed when he was accused of having an affair with Emmerdale co-star Samantha Giles, now 53, while Claire, now 63, was working on Bad Girls in London. While he and Samantha deny anything happening during the marriage, Claire was convinced it did. "I had a feeling that something was going on," she told the Mirror back in 2005. "I was working in London and we were spending less and less time together. I was travelling back to Yorkshire every weekend. "I remember Pete saying that I only came back to see my dogs and horses… and I thought: 'Well, yeah, and to catch you at it!'" Claire's suspicions were seemingly confirmed when Samantha's then-partner penned a letter claiming their spouses were indeed cheating. Claire also claimed Samantha had apologised to her at Richard Thorpe's funeral. 'Uncontrollable' libido 18 Bill Roache started his role as Ken Barlow in the very first episode of Corrie in 1960 Credit: Ian West/PA Wire 18 Bill was married twice (second wife Sara pictured) Credit: PA 18 Bill dated TV weather girl Emma Jesson, who was nearly 40 years his junior Credit: Wenn Bill Roache, 93, has played Ken Barlow since the very first episode of Corrie back in 1960 - and was a lothario both on and off screen. He cheated on his first wife Anna Cropper multiple times, something he has since expressed regret over. Speaking about his affairs - one of which was with fellow Weatherfield star Pat Phoenix, who played Elsie Tanner - he said: "There were plenty of girls around. "I didn't have any control over my own sex drive. I didn't have the strength to control it. Every morning I woke up regretting and hurting." He added that his fling with Pat was a "one-off" after she invited him round to her flat. "We had a few drinks, then one thing led to another," he said. "At that time, she had a reputation and I had a reputation, and she felt we should meet, as it were. It just happened." I didn't have any control over my own sex drive. I didn't have the strength to control it. Every morning I woke up regretting and hurting Bill Roache Bill and Pat then fell out after a row during filming and she didn't speak to him for two years afterwards. When Anna discovered her husband's infidelity she divorced him in 1974. In an interview with Piers Morgan on his Life Stories show, Bill told how his sexual antics led fellow Coronation Street actors to nickname him "C**k Roache". Piers also pressed him on the number of women he'd slept with, asking if it was 1,000 - to which Bill replied: "Well, I'm not denying it." He went on to marry Sara Mottram in 1978, with whom he shares three children, but they divorced in 2009 - though Bill insisted he was always faithful to her. Bill then dated TV weather girl Emma Jesson, nearly 40 years his junior, until 2013. The actor is now celibate, and claimed: 'I don't need a sexual relationship anymore. Everything works, but I don't have that need for sex I used to have.' Shocking love triangle 18 Emmerdale stars Isabel Hodgins and Danny Miller (right) were accused of having an affair in 2016 Credit: ITV 18 Isabel was dating fellow Emmerdale actor Michael Parr at the time Credit: Collect 18 Danny was in a relationship with Hollyoaks actress Kirsty-Leigh Porter Credit: Photo byThings were frosty in the Dales in 2016 when it was claimed Danny Miller, now 34, was having an affair with his co-star Isabel Hodgins, now 31 - who was dating fellow Emmerdale actor Michael Parr, now 38. At the time, Danny was in a relationship with Hollyoaks actress Kirsty-Leigh Porter, 36, who found incriminating texts on his phone. It's said to have caused fireworks, with angry cast members splitting into two camps. The Sun reported: "The tension between them caused major problems on set, because Michael made it crystal clear he didn't want to be around Danny." Kirsty was said to be devastated at the betrayal after forgiving Danny's alleged infidelity with a prostitute when drunk. And Michael was believed to be furious with pal Danny for going behind his back, but he stayed with Isabel until they finally split in 2019. Danny is now happily married to childhood sweetheart Steph Jones, and the couple are expecting their third child. Toxic split 18 Tina and Ryan seemed to be one of the most stable soap couples Credit: ITV/REX/Shutterstock 18 Ryan shares two children with former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh and one with Tina Credit: Instagram It's never wise to mix business and pleasure, but Tina O'Brien, 41, appears to have missed that memo. Aged 17, she dated Bruno Langley, 42, who played her on-screen boyfriend Todd Grimshaw, for a year. When their romance went south, five months later she moved on to Bruno's on-screen brother, Ryan Thomas, 41. Thankfully her ex gave them her blessing, and initially Tina and Ryan seemed to be one of the most stable soap couples - though Tina said their relationship was tempestuous at times due to her bad temper. The pair dated for six years and welcomed daughter Scarlett in 2008. But a month before Scarlett's first birthday, Ryan allegedly told Tina he didn't love her anymore, leaving her "devastated". Tina claimed: "He said I didn't do it for him any more. Those were his words. I was absolutely devastated. He said he didn't want the responsibility of a relationship with me." Both moved on, with Ryan happily engaged to former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh, 33, with whom he shares two children. Tina married personal trainer Adam Crofts, but earlier this year she reportedly called time on their 14-year relationship. They share a son, Beau. According to a source, Tina is gutted about the breakup but is doing her best to stay positive and is enjoying her life as a single woman. She and Ryan occasionally make digs at each other on social media but have remained relatively harmonious - until Tina was accused of damaging her ex's car with a baseball bat during a late-night bust-up in March 2024.
Metro
36 minutes ago
- Metro
Netflix fans can now binge all 4 seasons of 'near-perfect' crime series
Cosy crime has managed to carve out an escapist monopoly – with Death Valley and Ludwig the latest TV iterations to find an audience on the BBC. But Channel 5 has had another enjoyably gentle whodunnit on its screens for several years now – and it's just dropped on Netflix. The Madame Blanc Mysteries stars Coronation Street alum Sally Lindsay – who created, co-wrote and executive-produced the show – as antiques dealer Jean White, who sets about investigating the death of her husband and other miscellaneous misdemeanors. Set in a quaint south of France village, Jean teams up with taxi driver Dom, played by Benidorm's Steve Edge, to get to the bottom of things. The pair are this show's incarnation of the classic amateur detective duo and, later on, love interests. All four seasons of the crime caper have just hit the streaming service, complete with a set of larger-than-life characters and a bit of summer escapism in the Malta and Gozo filming locations, which stand in for the fictional village of Sainte Victoire. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Jean suspects foul play in her husband Rory's death, putting two and two together to get to the answer that he was leading a double life – possibly one that involved an entirely other family. He was murdered by his other women for a ruby ring, putting Jean on the hunt for the killer and the jewel. The cast is filled out with Robin Askwith and Only Fools and Horses' Sue Holderness, as a couple of expats living large in a chateau, as well as one half of the Chuckle Brothers, Paul Chuckle, and Blackadder's Tony Robinson. The show already has a Christmas special on the way this year – so you could binge all four seasons just in time for that – and Lindsay has said she will make The Madame Blanc Mysteries for as long as Channel 5 want them. Ahead of the fourth season, she told gathered press: 'I'm not under any, 'Yes, I'll quit when I'm on a high'. No, I won't. I love it so much. I will do it until they want me to not do it, to be honest, because it's such a special thing in my life. And it's such a part of our lives now.' The feel-good cosy crime show has a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for its first season, as well as several positive reviews on IMDb. SunnyDaise described the show as 'almost perfect', writing: 'It's great to have a show written by and predominantly starring over 50s that is clean enough for all generations to watch together.' More Trending Paul_anson described the show as 'silly fun in a light entertainment format'. 'Of course it's not meant to be taken seriously,' Paul added. 'Of course the actors are hamming it up. It's still an entertaining little package best enjoyed with a nice glass of red French wine.' 'Really enjoyed this,' echoed robbiep-53815. 'Great location. A bright sunny and refreshing change. The ongoing mystery is intriguing and the self contained weekly case to be solved keeps things ticking along nicely. A lovely change.' View More » The Madame Blanc Mysteries is available to stream on Netflix. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Liam Payne fans heartbroken over 'special' first glimpse of singer in Netflix series MORE: Netflix's controversial new thriller watched 2,400,000 times gets second season MORE: The completely free streaming service that boasts 10,000 shows and movies
