Tributes have been paid to “well-loved” Dale Winton after his death aged 62.
The TV stalwart was a firm fixture on the box, hosting Supermarket Sweep, Touch The Truck and the National Lottery game show In It To Win It.
Kate Phillips, controller of entertainment commissioning at the BBC, said: “Dale was an immensely well-loved individual who brought a wonderfully unique and special energy to the many programmes he presented over the years.
“He was extremely kind, brilliantly funny and was a true gentleman.
“It is incredibly sad news that he is no longer with us.
“All our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.”
His death prompted a range of TV stars to share their memories of, and tributes to, Winton.
Davina McCall said on Twitter: “I am so so so sad to hear about Dale Winton a lovely, warm, kind, sensitive, generous soul with a touch of naughty ! RIP.”
Other celebrities who posted messages expressing their condolences included Boy George, Kate Thornton, Nick Knowles and Nell McAndrew.
TV presenter Thornton wrote: “Sleep tight #DaleWinton. Always such a gent, such a laugh and such a pro. Taken way too soon”
Singer Julian Clary wrote: “Terribly sad to hear the lovely Dale Winton has died. Kind, sweet, truthful man.”
While Nick Knowles, who worked with Winton, added: “Lovely man. Kind & mischievous, generous & a great story teller. Same production crew for In it & Who Dares. We’ll all miss him.”
Nell McAndrew, who married Winton in a BBC3 spoof, posted a picture of the couple on their happy day.
She wrote: “Dale Winton was always warm and kind. Special memories of a lovely man, often bumped in to each other in the supermarket or on the high street as neighbours before sharing an extra special day together for our ‘wedding’
“Thoughts with his family and friends. Lovely, handsome kind man.”
TV star Paddy McGuinness said Winton was “the perfect host”.
“Sad news,” he said on Twitter. “Back in the day Supermarket Sweep was the programme to watch.
“Dale Winton was the perfect host, he made it all look effortless. RIP.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here