Loose Women addressed the tragic death of former star Lisa Maxwell's daughter, Beau Jessup, during Friday's episode, sending love to the family. Jessup, 27, was Maxwell's only child and died suddenly, with her university confirming the news this week.
University confirms death of student
Jessup was a student at Columbia Journalism School in New York City, where she was studying for a master's degree. She was the only child of Maxwell and her husband, Paul Jessup, whom she married in 2014.
A statement from the university on Thursday (November 12) said: "Columbia Journalism School mourns the loss of Beau Jessup, a student in our M.S. programme. We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved her. The J-School is working with Beau’s family to offer support and assistance during this difficult time."
Loose Women tribute
During Friday's (November 13) episode of Loose Women, host Kaye Adams told viewers: "Now, you may have already seen the devastating news about our former Loose Women, Lisa Maxwell, today. Lisa’s daughter Beau has died suddenly at the age of 27. Beau was Lisa’s only child and had been studying in New York."
She added: "There's nothing to say; the feeling of sadness is overwhelming. We are sending all our love to Lisa, her husband Paul, and their family and friends," as silence fell and the show moved into an AD break.
Jessup's journalism ambitions
A month before her death, Jessup gave an interview to the university's Colombia News, in which she spoke about her aspirations to become a journalist. She said that being the daughter of Maxwell, also known for starring as Detective Inspector Samantha Nixon in The Bill, had influenced her interest in pursuing a media career.
She said: "As the daughter of a television actress, I grew up with an unusual awareness of the distance between people’s lives and the stories told about them. I saw how journalism could illuminate someone’s experiences, but also how those experiences could be distorted, simplified, or transformed into a public narrative over which the subject had very little control. I was curious, from quite a young age, about who gets to tell people’s stories, and what happens when those stories enter the public domain."
When Jessup was 16, she created a website called SpecialName, which helped Chinese parents choose an English name for their children, and which led to her giving a TEDx talk on the site. Before moving to New York, Jessup studied social anthropology at the London School of Economics and writing for performance at the University of Cambridge.
Maxwell starred in The Bill from 2002 to 2009 and also presented children's programmes including Splash! On ITV. She was a panellist on Loose Women from 2009 to 2014.
