Richard Arnold joined Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley on Good Morning Britain today.
Richard Arnold shared the ‘very sad news’ on Good Morning Britain (Image: ITV)
Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Arnold interrupted regular programming today to pay tribute to Gary Numan‘s brother.
Gary announced the sudden death of his younger brother John on Monday, after he was found collapsed on a street in Birmingham.
John died at the age of 60, just moments after they said goodbye after Gary’s show in Leeds.
In a social media post, the musician said the last few days had been “the hardest of his life”.
He wrote: “He had spent the evening with me at my Telekon show, catching up, swapping stories, telling me about his newly found love of reading. We talked about authors, music, the loves of our lives, children, our Dad, steam trains, aeroplanes, accidents, friends, enemies, just as much as we could squeeze in in the time we had.
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“We were just enjoying being together again, as we see each other so rarely these days. We talked for hours before and after the show, but eventually, I had to leave as we had another show in Birmingham later that night.
“I hugged him at the door of our tour bus, I think it was about 12:20am, asked him how far he had to walk to get to his car (I always worried about him walking the streets at night), it was not far apparently, we said goodbye, and I watched him walk away. Sadly, he never made it to his car, betrayed by his own heart.
“It will haunt me forever that we may have driven off, not knowing that he was lying in a rainy street just yards away. Luckil,y a kind person saw him and called an ambulance, but it was too late.”
His post continued: “This is not a tribute to John, I can barely think straight enough to find the words for this, let alone a fitting and deserving tribute to someone I loved more than the world, those words will come in time. This is to explain why I’m struggling.
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“We are continuing with the tour because my Dad thinks I should, because John’s lovely wife said John would want me to. I have no capacity at the moment to make decisions of any kind. I’m drifting, broken, shell-shocked, just watching one foot fall in front of the other.
“The emotion overwhelms and then backs away, it screams and then whispers. This is the worst moment of my life and I have no idea what to do, other than to continue doing the only thing I know how to do, the thing John was always so proud of.
“He loved Telekon. He was only 15 when I made it. So this tour is no longer a celebration of an album, it’s a tribute to John, my brother, the best brother a man could ever have.”
After his devastating post, Richard Arnold opened Good Morning Britain’s showbiz segment with a tribute.
Richard Arnold paid tribute to Gary Numan’s brother (Image: ITV)
Richard told presenters Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley: “Very sad news indeed, he has revealed that his brother has tragically passed away.
“So we want to start this part of the show today by offering our sincere condolences to a friend of the show, Gary Numan.
“Gary announced the sudden death of his brother John in a heartbreaking post on social media. Gary had concerned fans whilst performing in Birmingham last weekend.
“During the show, he became visibly upset, and his wife Gemma ran on to the stage to comfort him. Later, in a statement online, he updated his fans that John was only 60 and suffered a heart attack whilst walking to his car just moments after he said goodbye to Gary.”
Richard continued: “Once again, our condolences to Gary and his family.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.