TV presenter Keith Chegwin has died at the age of 60 following a long illness, his family has said.
The star, best known for hosting children’s game show Cheggers Play Pop, died at home after battling a progressive lung condition.
Keith Chegwin (Ian West/PA)
A statement from his family said: “We are heartbroken to share the news that Keith Chegwin sadly passed away following a long-term battle with a progressive lung condition, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which rapidly worsened towards the end of this year.
READ MORE: Remembering 97 famous faces we've said goodbye to in 2017
“Keith died peacefully at home shortly after midnight on the 11th of December. His wife Maria, his daughter Rose and his son Ted were by his side.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank Severn Hospice for the kindness, support and care they have shown us all over the last few weeks.
“Keith was a loving husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend. We would respectfully ask to be left to mourn his passing in private.”
Chegwin, known as Cheggers, started his career as an actor but became a household name as a TV presenter of shows such as Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Cheggers Plays Pop and Saturday Superstore.
He made no secret of his battle with alcoholism but staged a comeback in recent years when he was a regular on reality TV.
READ MORE: Remembering 97 famous faces we've said goodbye to in 2017
He took part in Dancing On Ice in 2013 and Celebrity MasterChef and Celebrity Big Brother in 2015, when he came fourth and said that while his experience in the house had been a "nightmare" from beginning to end, he "actually quite enjoyed it".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here