Wright ‘sicker than he let on’ after heart surgery
DJ’S friend claims recovery from bypass operation was ‘what came for him’ after sudden death of star
STEVE WRIGHT had had heart surgery in the years before his death and was “more ill than he let on”, it has been claimed.
Police and paramedics were called to the BBC Radio DJ’S London home last week after reports of “an incident” at his central London flat.
The 69-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and his death was described as “unexpected”.
Wright’s friend Mark Wells said the DJ had undergone heart surgery soon after his Radio 2 show was axed.
Speaking on the Behind The Scenes with Colin Edmonds podcast, he said: “Steve told me he had a heart operation about 14 or 15 months ago after he finished Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 2.
“He had a bypass operation which had gone well but I think he had been more ill than he had been letting on to that point. The recovery from that had gone pretty well though obviously the events of the last couple of days would suggest that’s what in the end came for him.” Wells described the BBC star as a “hypochondriac” with a fondness for unhealthy food and cigars who was “the first and only person I’ve ever seen do their own dentistry”.
Last week ,Wright’s brother Laurence said the DJ would not talk about health issues if “something was wrong with him”.
“He was the kind of guy who would just carry on, take care of it, not talk about it, not make a big thing, that kind of stoic sort of attitude,” he said.
Wright’s son, Tom, who lives in Los Angeles, said he had returned to the UK to care for his father before his death.
He wrote on social media: “It meant the world to me that I was able to get to know my Dad in a way I never had in the months before he died.
“I will cherish every moment we shared and every memory we made. I only hope to make him proud and build on his legacy with kindness and love.
“This made every struggle worthwhile to have had this time with him before we lost him.”
The broadcaster had pre-recorded a “pre-valentine’s Day Special” of his Sunday Love Songs, which aired just a day before his death.
Yesterday, a special episode of Steve Wright’s Love Songs aired with tributes to the presenter. Presenting the show, Liza Tarbuck said the show was going on but “without the chief ” and read out tributes from listeners.
In a career that spanned more than four decades, Wright amassed millions of loyal listeners with programmes that aired on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2.
The broadcaster joined BBC Radio 1 in 1980 to host a Saturday evening show before moving on to host Steve Wright in the Afternoon a year later until 1993.
Wright then fronted the Radio 1
Breakfast show for a year until 1995, and completed a stint at commercial radio stations before returning to BBC Radio 2 in 1996 to host Steve Wright’s Saturday Show and Sunday Love Songs.
In 1999, he recreated Steve Wright in the Afternoon every weekday on Radio 2, with celebrity interviews and entertaining trivia featured in his Factoids segment, before stepping down in September 2022. He continued to present
Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2.
Former BBC Radio 1 host Scott Mills took over the afternoon slot as part of the station’s schedule shake-up.
Wright was made an MBE in the New Year Honours for services to radio.