Eamonn Holmes and Penny Smith have shared moving tributes following the death of their former colleague John Stapleton, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 79.

Eamonn remembered Mr Stapleton as “a gentleman” and “a gentle soul” during their years working together in breakfast television.

Speaking on the People’s Channel, Penny said: “We came into this studio recently and the three of us were reunited.

“The lovely thing was that I had so many texts from people you’d recognise from the GMTV days and others as well. Everybody was saying what a gent he was and how kind.

“From my point of view, the reason he stayed a friend, you have these screen husbands and screen wives but the reason he stayed a friend was because he was genuinely funny. He made me laugh all the time.

“In fact, I just recently did a little podcast with him. We were talking about things he hated, and he said he hated people driving around with their windows down, playing really loud music.

“And he’d go, ‘I just shout at them, ‘Can you turn it up a bit? There’s somebody in Australia who can’t quite hear the words!’

“I was just thinking of all the fun times we’d had. I was trying to focus on the positives because we both knew how difficult he found living with Parkinson’s.

“He found everything quite hard, especially after Lynne died during the first Covid year.

“He was finding life very difficult. But still, you never expect it, you never want it. The people you love you want them to live forever.”

His son Nick and daughter-in-law Lisa maintained a constant vigil at his bedside during his final days.

The 79-year-old journalist had publicly revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in October last year.

During an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain following his diagnosis announcement, Mr Stapleton had maintained a positive outlook, stating: “There’s no point in being miserable.

“It won’t ever change. I mean, Parkinson’s is here with me now for the rest of my life. Best I can do is try and control it and take the advice of all the experts.

Born in Oldham in 1946, Stapleton built an illustrious broadcasting career that began in newspapers before transitioning to television.

He became a familiar face on BBC’s Panorama and Newsnight, reporting from conflict zones across the Middle East and El Salvador, as well as covering the Falklands War from Argentina.

His television journey included presenting the BBC’s consumer programme Watchdog alongside his wife Lynn Faulds Wood from 1986 to 1993.

Audiences later recognised him for his work on GMTV’s News Hour, where he established himself as a trusted morning television presence.

In 2010, he took on the role of Special Correspondent for ITV’s newly launched Daybreak programme.

When the show concluded after four years, he continued in the same capacity for Good Morning Britain until 2015.