Dale Winton death: Piers Morgan claims ‘fragile’ presenter 'snogged him with tongues’
DALE WINTON died aged 62 last week, prompting many of his friends and fans to share their greatest memories of the Supermarket Sweep host on social media. Today, Piers Morgan claimed the late TV host "grabbed" and "snogged" him during an outing with friends.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the presenter said: “He rang me up once – it was hilarious – and said, 'Piers, I think you're wonderfully talented and handsome and I love you'.
“And I put this in my diaries when I left the paper world. And I put at the end that I felt slightly unnerved by this.”
Speaking further about their encounter, Piers Morgan continued: “About three months after publication, Dale was in The Ivy [restaurant] and I went in there with my literary agent.
“He then stormed over and said, 'All my friends are talking about nothing else apart from that paragraph you put in your diary, laughing’.
"I said, 'Whatever you do, don't start kissing me in here, Dale,' at which point, he grabbed me in the middle of The Ivy in front of everybody and started snogging me! Tongues and all!"
He grabbed me in the middle of The Ivy in front of everybody and started snogging me! Tongues and all!
Piers went on to tell his co-star Susanna Reid and guest David Baddiel that the kiss went on for 10 "very long, lingering" seconds.
The TV host also divulged that he last saw Dale two months before his tragic death last week.
“He was a very nice chap," the presenter added.
"He seemed very fragile. Tormented really. His childhood was very traumatic. His parents both died when he was very young. He seemed like quite a lonely guy, for someone so gregarious and loved."
Dale Winton died at his home last Thursday, with the death reportedly being treated as ”unexplained" but not suspicious by police.
ITV
ITV
The National Lottery host took a break from TV commitments in 2016 to undergo surgery for a knee and shoulder problem.
In the same year, Dale Winton openly spoke about his battle with depression on Loose Women.
At the time, he told the show's panellists: “I should have taken myself off the TV but I didn’t.
“Listen, there are worse things in the world – but I had depression and I didn’t realise.”
The In It to Win It star continued: “I had a bad break-up and then I had health issues. I wanted to withdraw but you know what this business is like.”
Dale also spoke about his difficult upbringing and his heartache after his mother Sheree took her own life when he was 21-years-old.
GETTY
GETTY
His mother was found dead in her bedroom by Dale back in 1976, after committing suicide following her own battle with depression.
The TV star’s father also died on the day of Dale’s bar mitzvah, when he was just 13-years-old.
In the presenter’s 2002 autobiography, Dale Winton penned that he had contact with his late mother’s ghost.
He wrote: “I believe an afterlife exists in some shape or form, and I go to a clairvoyant because I find looking into the future through their eyes fascinating.
“From time to time, mum has come through to me with directions for my life."
Good Morning Britain is on ITV, weekdays at 6am.