The TV and radio presenter James Whale has died at the age of 74, TalkTV has announced. His colleague and friend Mike Graham read an obituary on air and paid tribute to Whale, who had stage four kidney cancer.
Whale was first diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and had to have one of his kidneys removed. In 2020, he revealed the cancer had returned in his kidney, spine, brain and lungs.
Graham said: “James began his remarkable career in the early 1970s when he pioneered a new kind of radio in Britain, the late-night shock jock phone-in. By the late 1980s, the James Whale Radio Show had become a cultural phenomenon, broadcasting every weekend on ITV. He attracted millions of viewers, making him a household name.”
Whale went on to host programmes for ITV, Sky and the BBC, and gained a new audience on talk radio after appearing on Celebrity Big Brother. In 2006, after surviving kidney cancer, he launched Kidney Cancer UK, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds. He was awarded an MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for his contribution to broadcasting and charity.
Graham concluded: “James Whale broke the rules, he shaped the airwaves and did it all on his own terms. For millions, James wasn’t just a broadcaster. He was a companion, a provocateur and a good friend that we’ll all never forget. God bless you, James. We’ll miss you.”
