Martin Frizell shared a photo of John Stapleton with his wife Fiona Phillips and Kate Garraway as he paid tribute to the much-loved journalist who passed away this morning

Fiona Phillips with her husband, Martin Frizell(Image: Getty Images)

Fiona Phillips’ husband, Martin Frizell, has shared a throwback photo of her at work as he paid tribute to John Stapleton.

The 66-year-old producer and editor, who has been married to Fiona since 1997 and shares two children with her, described John as “a constant presence” in his career. Martin remembered his former colleague and mentioned some of the stories they covered together – including when they reported from Kosovo and Iraq.

After John passed away, Martin shared a photo of him, Fiona and Kate Garraway on Instagram – with a moving caption in tribute to the late journalist. He wrote, “What fun we had. Such sad news to hear that Stapes, as we called him, has passed away.

Martin shared this photo on Instagram(Image: Instagram/martinfrizell1)

“He was a colleague and friend and a constant presence for a large part of my career, we covered stories together in Kosovo and Iraq, laughed and lunched – a lot. Like me John came up through the ranks of newspaper journalism before entering broadcasting and never lost that thirst for digging out a story.

“He was one of the greats of his generation and we will miss him – even the ribbing from him when Chelsea lost to City, which was quite often!” John sadly died at the age of 79 following a battle with Parkinson’s disease, his agent confirmed, adding that the disease was complicated with pneumonia.

The much-loved presenter passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning. He was known to many for his television work on shows including the BBC’s Watchdog, GMTV’s News Hour, Panorama and Newsnight.

John Stapleton passed away this morning(Image: PA)

After almost 50 years on screen – which included reporting on four US elections – John shared his Parkinson’s diagnosis in October 2024, saying he refused to be “miserable” and was “learning to live with it.” Sharing the sad news that John passed away, his agent Jackie Gill said: “John had Parkinson’s disease, which was complicated by pneumonia. His son Nick and daughter-in-law Lisa have been constantly at his side and John died peacefully in hospital this morning.”

Days before John’s passing, his son Nick Stapleton, a journalist and broadcaster known for his work on Scam Interceptors, appeared on BBC’s Morning Live and revealed the heartbreaking news that his dad had “taken a turn for the worse.”

When host Gethin Jones offered Nick his best wishes he replied: “Unfortunately, Dad’s got a bit of a chest infection, and that can be pretty nasty if you’ve got Parkinson’s. And I just felt like I really needed to be there with him this weekend and get him some help.

John with his former GMTV colleagues including Fiona, Lorraine Kelly, Penny Smith, Eamonn Holmes and Anne Davies(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)

“And thankfully, that is now in place, and I’m hopeful that, you know, he’ll be back on form pretty soon.” Expressing his support, Gethin concluded, “Absolutely. Well, we send him all our love, of course.”

John bravely opened up about his Parkinson’s battle last year as he shared his diagnosis on Morning Live in a discussion with his son Nick. He said: “Speaking is how I’ve earned my living for the best part of 50 years. It’s very frustrating sometimes, particularly [when] people are constantly saying to you: ‘Sorry, what did you say?’ And you have to repeat yourself, time and time again.

“I am fairly pragmatic about the prospect of this getting worse. I try to remain positive, because what’s the point of not being?” He added: “There’s no point in being miserable… It won’t ever change. I mean, Parkinson’s is here with me now for the rest of my life. Best I can do is try and control it and take the advice of all the experts.”