Life after BBC News looks good! Natasha Kaplinsky and Sian Williams look radiant at memorial to George Alagiah alongside former colleagues – after quitting high-pressure presenter roles
- Read more: Emotional Sophie Raworth reads final words of BBC News At Six anchor George Alagiah to packed congregation at memorial service after journalist’s tragic death aged 67 following bowel cancer battle
The great and the good of British news broadcasting – past and present – were at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, central London, yesterday to honour the life of their former colleague George Alagiah, who died in July, after a long battle with bowel cancer.
Amongst those gathered – and proving that life away from the high-pressured environment of rolling news suits them – were former BBC News anchors Natasha Kaplinsky and Sian Williams.
Former Strictly star Kaplinsky, 51, cut a glamorous figure in a black velour trouser suit, wearing her highlight hair tousled and tumbling around her shoulders and a glint of sparkling jewellery on her wrist.
Meanwhile Williams, 58, – officially known as Dr Williams since qualifying to become a qualified Chartered NHS psychologist – looked radiant in a vibrant ultra-marine suit and patent black platform loafers.
Dressed in a black velour trousersuit, former BBC News at Six host Natasha Kaplinsky looked radiant as she attended the service to honour the life of her former co-presenter George Alagiah in London on Tuesday
Kaplinsky, who presented News at Six alongside Alagiah for four years before defecting to Channel 5 News in 2007, now works as a more general broadcaster and has been President of children’s charity Barnardo’s since July 2019.
Still involved in high profile campaigns – just not reporting on them, earlier this year, the presenter, who has two teenage children with husband Justin Bower, called on the government to introduce tougher age verification to stop children from coming into contact with inappropriate material.
Williams, whose TV career has spanned over 30 years and seen her report on everything from Hillsborough to the Asian tsunami, was a presenter on BBC Breakfast for eleven years between 2001 and 2012.
Wearing a jewelled poppy and a sparkling bracelet, Kaplinsky, who has stepped away from the newsroom in recent years in favour of more general presenting roles cut a glamorous figure
Dr Sian Williams, 58, – officially known as Dr Williams since qualifying to become a qualified Chartered NHS psychologist – looked radiant in a vibrant ultra-marine suit and patent black platform loafers
Williams, who also presented for Channel 5 after her 11-year BBC career, looked glamorous alongside the great and the good of BBC broadcasting on Tuesday
In 2016, the broadcaster, who is married to fellow journalist Paul Woolwich, underwent a ‘brutal’ double mastectomy that left her ‘battered and broken’ after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
She retrained after feeling disillusioned with the world of broadcasting and earned a doctorate of counselling psychology from City University of London while in her 50s.
Her late mother and grandmother were nurses, her brother is in hospital management and her son is an A&E doctor – and she said the career change was in part motivated by those around her.
She told The Telegraph in 2020: ‘I look at my family and think. “They’re doing it, time for you to step up,’”.
‘I owe an enormous debt to the NHS for helping me, for helping my family. I’m just so profoundly grateful for it.’
Kaplinsky, who presented News at Six alongside Alagiah for four years before defecting to Channel 5 News in 2007, now works as a more general presenter and has been President of children’s charity Barnardo’s since July 2019. Right: The star during her BBC News presenting days
Co-hosts: Natasha and George were firm friends and co-hosted News At Six from 2005 to 2007 (pictured on the set of the BBC Six O’Clock news in 2007)
Some of the most respected BBC stars were at the St Martin-in-the-Fields church service yesterday to remember the life of Alagiah, four months after his death at the age of 67 following a battle with bowel cancer.
Other stars present were Nick Robinson, Mark Austin, Reeta Chakrabarti, Natasha Kaplinsky, Fergus Walsh, Simon McCoy, Sian Williams and Matthew Amroliwala.
BBC presenters Fiona Bruce (left) and Mishal Husain speak outside the memorial today
BBC colleagues Reeta Chakrabarti and Fergus Walsh outside Alagiah’s service in London today
BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth (pictured) was among those at George Alagiah’s memorial service today. She read out the moving words which Mr Alagiah wanted to be shared at his memorial
Mr Alagiah’s wife Frances Robathan, with whom he had two children, and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence – Princess Anne’s husband – also attended the service led by Reverend Dr Sam Wells which featured music from the London African Gospel Choir.
Those present heard reflections on Mr Alagiah’s career while his final message to the world was read out by his former BBC Six O’Clock News co-presenter Sophie Raworth.
She told the congregation: ‘We end the programme today with George in his own words. If you haven’t already told the people you love, that you love them, tell them. If you haven’t already told them how vulnerable you sometimes feel, tell them.’
‘If you want to tell them that you would like to be with them until the front hall stairs feel like Everest, tell them. You never know what is coming around the corner. And if, lucky you, there is nothing around the corner, then at least you got your defence in first.’
Three weeks before he died, Mr Alagiah dictated to his wife the words he wanted to be shared at his memorial.
‘It is a painful yet exclusive luxury to be living with cancer because for the most part it is a story of a death foretold,’ he said, according to the BBC. ‘Many of us cancer patients know that our time is running out so there is time for reflection. It is not the brutality of a car crash.’
Presenters including Mishal Husain, Fiona Bruce and Ms Raworth were also in attendance for the service.
Other stars present were Nick Robinson, Mark Austin, Reeta Chakrabarti, Natasha Kaplinsky, Fergus Walsh, Simon McCoy, Sian Williams and Matthew Amroliwala.
BBC News at Six presenter George Alagiah (pictured) died on July 24 in London aged 67 following a battle with bowel cancer
Sri Lanka-born journalist Alagiah, the face of BBC One’s News At Six since 2007, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, which had spread to his liver and lymph nodes, in April 2014.
He endured two rounds of chemotherapy and several operations, including the removal of most of his liver.
In October 2015 he announced that his treatment was over and returned to BBC News At Six on November 10.
Alagiah joined the BBC in 1989 and spent many years as one of the corporation’s leading foreign correspondents before moving to presenting.
He first began hosting the 6pm news bulletin in early 2003, but stepped up to front it solo four years later following the departure of his co-host, Natasha Kaplinsky.
He was previously a prominent foreign correspondent, often as a specialist in Africa with coverage of civil wars in Somalia and Liberia as well as the genocide in Rwanda 20 years ago.
Throughout his career he interviewed central political figures, among them former South African president Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and ex-Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe.
Before joining the BBC, Alagiah worked as a print journalist and went on to write a number of books including A Home From Home, which looked at what it means to be British.
Throughout his illustrious career, he also presented other shows such as Mixed Britannia, looking at the UK’s mixed-race population.
He was made an OBE in the 2008 New Year Honours.
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