Celeb chronicler Leach dies at 76
There will be no more champagne wishes and caviar dreams for Robin Leach.
The famed celebrity journalist — best known for his work on TV’s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” — died Friday morning at the age of 76, according to the Las Vegas-Review Journal.
Leach had been hospitalized since Nov. 21 after suffering a stroke in the Mexican resort city of Cabo San Lucas.
"Despite the past 10 months, what a beautiful life he had,” Leach’s three sons said in a statement to the Review-Journal. “Our Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Uncle and friend Robin Leach passed away peacefully last night at 1:50 a.m. Everyone’s support and love over the past, almost one year, has been incredible and we are so grateful.”
Leach’s show helped define the wealth and excess of the late 1980s and early 1990s — and set the stage for a flood of celebrity-focused reality TV shows.
The beloved British host ended each episode with his signature catchphrase, “champagne wishes and caviar dreams.”
Born in London, Leach enjoyed a successful career as a newspaper reporter before turning his sights to chronicling the lives of the 1%.
At age 18, he became the Daily Mail’s youngest Page One editor.
Leach moved to New York roughly four years later just days after President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, according to the Review-Journal.
He wrote for the New York Daily News, Ladies’ Home Journal and People, where he penned its first 11 cover stories.
Leach’s first TV gig came in 1980 when he joined CNN’s “People Tonight.”
“Lifestyles” premiered in 1984, turning Leach into a celebrity and multimillionaire himself. The syndicated show’s run ended in 1995.
By then, Leach was more famous than many of the high-rollers whose gold-plated lives he brought to the screen.
His death prompted an avalanche of social media tributes from a lineup showcasing his colorful life: journalists and burlesque dancers, actors and boy bands, comedians and rockers.
“So sad to hear about my long time friend Robin Leach‘s passing,” former Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil wrote on Twitter. “He was an amazing person. He’s going to be missed by me and thousands more worldwide.”
The Backstreet Boys also paid homage. “Sad to hear we lost a legend this morning,” the group tweeted. “Here’s to endless champagne and caviar Rest in peace Robin Leach.”