Lynn Faulds Wood dead: Former BBC Watchdog presenter dies, aged 72

The presenter died after suffering a stroke 
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24 April 2020
The Weekender

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Former BBC Watchdog presenter and cancer campaigner Lynn Faulds Wood has died at the age of 72.

A statement from her family said: “Having suffered a massive stroke last night and a subsequent bleed on the brain, presenter and journalist Lynn Faulds Wood passed away peacefully at 12 noon today with her husband John Stapleton and son Nick at her bedside.”

Faulds Wood's TV career began in the early 1980s when she worked on the breakfast show show TV-AM.

She then moved to another BBC programme, Breakfast Time, before hosting Watchdog.

Success: Faulds Wood helped ensure Watchdog became a BBC staple
GMTV

Faulds Wood hosted the consumer rights programme alongside her husband between 1985 and 1993, and during their tenure the show became a huge primetime hit.

She survived bowel cancer while working for the programme and went on to call for better awareness of the illness.

After her moving documentary Bobby Moore & Me aired, Faulds Wood received thousands of letters from fans.

She continued campaigning until her death, helping to launch the world's first ever symptoms-based bowel cancer guide in 2000.

Happily married: Faulds Wood with her husband, John Stapleton
Dave Benett

In 2006 she worked with Dame Esther Rantzen to present BBC consumer rights programme Old Dogs, New Tricks.

Dame Esther Rantzen was one of the first famous faces to pay tribute to the presenter.

She said: “I have known Lynn for many years. We made a series together which was huge fun but also very hard hitting because she was such an impressive and courageous consumer journalist.

“She fought for the rights of vulnerable people doggedly and determinedly and she is a huge loss to journalism and to her friends and family. We are all devastated at this news.”

Additional reporting by Press Association

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