David Walliams, Gloria Hunniford and Martine McCutcheon were among the celebrity guests leading mourners at the funeral of Dale Winton. The Supermarket Sweep star died in April and his memorial service took place at a church in central London on Tuesday, on what would have been his 63rd birthday.
Tony Blackburn, Christopher Biggins, Matt Lucas, Steve Allen, Anthea Turner, Vanessa Feltz, Graeme Souness and Piers Morgan were also at the service. Walliams and McCutcheon gave readings and Winton’s godsons, Josh, Ben and Louis Linsey, also paid tribute.
After the service Hunniford said she would always remember Winton for “that tan, of course” and his humour, “because he was always very bright”. She said she felt particularly sad when she saw the coffin leaving the church: “You sort of instinctively want to go and touch the coffin, or say something, but you can’t break out of that setup.”
“A lot of people paid their respects,” Hunniford went on. “I think, when you get a shock when somebody dies suddenly and they are so young, the first thing you feel is, ‘Oh gosh, I never got to say goodbye.’ And that’s why today was very special. We all got a chance, in our own ways, to say our own small goodbye to Dale.”
Hunniford praised the reading by Winton’s godsons. She said: “The sentiment was fantastic and you can just tell that, although Dale never had children of his own, that he was really gorgeous to his godchildren and very hands on, so that was lovely to hear.”
Feltz said Winton was “a really adorable person”. She said: “He was extremely generous and funny and very, very kind. He’s really, properly missed. He had a public persona and a public role and everybody knows about that, but as a friend and a real individual, he was extremely nice and kind, and just a lovely adornment to everyone’s lives.”
She said the service was “really very moving … I think he would have loved it”.
Walliams, a close friend of Winton’s, read If You Go, recorded by Dusty Springfield, while McCutcheon read What Should Life Be?
Winton was found dead at his home in north London on 18 April. After his death, Walliams described him as “the best company, always outrageous and hilarious”. He said: “He adored being in show business and loved meeting fans.” The TV host’s death is being treated by Scotland Yard as unexplained but not suspicious.
Winton became a household name fronting game shows such as Supermarket Sweep and the National Lottery show In It To Win It. Supermarket Sweep, in which contestants ran around a mock-up shop collecting shopping items, was a hit in the 1990s and was later revived.