OUR 7-DAY TV LISTINGS
ON April 19, the country lost one of its most-loved TV and radio presenters when Dale Winton passed away at the age of 62.
Born in Marylebone, London, in May 1955, Dale’s showbiz career began when he worked as a DJ on the London club scene, before he moved into radio and television.
His big break came with Supermarket Sweep, in which contestants raced around a shop floor collecting items. He hosted the game show from 1993 to 2001, and was involved in a 2007 reboot.
Winton then moved on to prime-time shows, including The National Lottery’s In It to Win It. And he had another hit in 2008 with the game show Hole in the Wall, based on a Japanese format where contestants contorted themselves to fit through holes in a moving wall.
In the years leading up to his death, Dale kept a lower public profile because of several rounds of surgery he had undergone.
In 2015, he sparked concern after failing to attend the funeral of Cilla Black, one of his closest friends.
A year later, the troubled star appeared on Loose Women and revealed he had been secretly battling depression after going through a difficult break-up.
However, more recently, Dale was back lighting up the screen on this Channel 5 travelogue show.
Although the programme was pulled from the schedules immediately after his death, it has returned over the past three weeks, with viewers tuning in to appreciate the last new TV series they will see from the late star.
During his four-week 1,500mile road trip around Florida, we have seen Dale experience some of the weird, wild and wonderful experiences that America’s Sunshine State has to offer.
And in the final leg of his sun-kissed sojourn, Dale seeks out attractions on the Gulf coast.
He starts off at the immortal Don CeSar Hotel, a long-time playground of the rich and famous.
He hears how the ‘Pink Lady’ or ‘Pink Palace’ has hosted everyone from Al Capone and F Scott Fitzgerald to Lou Gehrig and Franklin D Roosevelt, and how it is said to be haunted by the unchained ghost of its original owner, Thomas Rowe.
After leaving the hotel’s conspicuous consumption behind, Dale has a magical encounter with bottlenose dolphins, before heading north and meeting the Weeki Wachee Springs state park’s mermaids – a troupe of entertainers who don tails to perform underwater in the natural springs.
Dale then visits Sun City Centre, an 11,000-strong retirement community where kids are not allowed, before venturing over to Pinecraft in Sarasota.
Known as the ‘Amish Vegas’, this tourist destination, where buggies powered by the sun and three-wheeled bicycles are more common on the streets than cars, is a haven for Amish communities who want to escape their home states’ cold winters.
Finally, the host indulges his lifelong obsession with biker gangs by hanging out with some leather-clad Harley owners, before rather fittingly and poignantly joining them to ride off into the sunset. So long, Dale.