‘KIND, LOVING FRIEND, PERSON, COLLEAGUE’
An emotional Phillip Schofield said before the funeral how he was desperate for Denise Robertson’s approval when he joined This Morning, which broadcast from South Bank in London. “She was feisty, really, really tenacious and would power through authority,” he recalled. “If someone told her ‘no’, it wouldn’t make any difference. “You walk down the corridor and we’ve got all the faces of our family and our experts and, obviously, Denise’s picture is there and we walked past it the other day and said ‘This just feels SO wrong, so strange’ – it’s terribly emotional still, in the building, it’s very emotional.” Asked why it was important it was to be at the Minster, Philip Schofield replied: “Because, I think, of what Denise meant to all of us. She was such a kind, loving friend, person, colleague. “We wanted to be here because we also know how important she was to Sunderland and that’s why it had to be this way.” Fellow presenter Holly Willoughby said: “She was also a remarkable woman. She blazed her way through life and never let anything hold her back. “This Morning is such a family show, we always say it is a real family there and she was the matriarch. “It still doesn’t feel real and I think all of us need to be here to say goodbye, because it still feels very much like she is part of the show. “It’s just a huge loss.” Eamonn Holmes’ wife Ruth Langsford also paid tribute to her colleague’s love of bright colours and recalled her “wafting” fragrantly down the corridors of the TV studios. “We shared a lot of laughs with her as well,” she said.