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Andy Kershaw dies at 66 after cancer battle, heartbroken sister Liz leads tributes.
Andy Kershaw, a former BBC Radio 1 DJ and a presenter at Live Aid, succumbed to cancer at the age of 66, his family announced on Friday afternoon. The broadcaster had been facing serious health problems since last August when the doctors found the tumors in his spine, a diagnosis that very soon made him lose his ability to walk.
Nevertheless, Kershaw was very resilient and kept in high spirits; he was joking in January about his plan to live longer than some world leaders and the presenting duo Ant and Dec as a way to keep himself going.
His sister Liz Kershaw, a well-known broadcaster herself, shared on X that she had lost her “best friend” while thanking the public for their kindness. Following that, the news has caused a flood of condolences from the whole industry, with the ones like Dawn Neesom and Jon Gaunt sending their support to the family.
The three decades of Kershaw’s career at the BBC were marked by his efforts in bringing world music and new sounds to the audience, but also by his fearless reporting from the most dangerous areas of the world.
Chris House, a friend of Andy Kershaw, shared details of his health battle as tributes poured in.
The Stranglers rock band and the former athlete turned TV presenter, Iwan Thomas were just a few of those who paid their tributes to Andy Kershaw, a warm, witty, and unforgettable friend, according to them. Kershaw had been bravely battling cancer since last August, during which he had to undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy, physiotherapy, and several scans along with taking painkillers as the illness had left him walking with difficulty, a close friend, Peter Everett disclosed to the media. These last few months, he and I haven’t been able to record podcast episodes, but he expressed his gratitude to people for their support of them.
Andy Kershaw’s BBC career and personal life
Andy Kershaw’s broadcasting career at the BBC covered almost 30 years, beginning in 1984 when he was the presenter of the Old Grey Whistle Test and went on to host the iconic Live Aid coverage as one of the co-presenters. He is often compared to the late John Peel, and he spent 15 years on Radio 1 promoting non-mainstream and world music in addition to specialized music genres. For his work, he was honored with several Sony Radio Academy Awards. Outside the recording studio, he was a brave reporter who, among other things, covered the Rwandan genocide, the civil war in Sierra Leone, and managed to produce rare radio diaries from the very secretive North Korea.
The move to Radio 3 in 2001 was a part of his long BBC career that was frequently overshadowed by his messy private life. His 17-year relationship with Juliette Banner, a restaurant owner and the mother of their two children, Sonny and Dolly, ended in 2006 on the very day when they relocated to the Isle of Man after she found out about his betrayal. The breakdown of the relationship brought a series of personal and legal problems to light, which resulted in Andy being sentenced to jail for violating a restraining order and giving up the position at the BBC in 2007.
Andy Kershaw’s marriage came to an end due to a combination of infidelity and repeated legal issues.
According to reports, Andy Kershaw’s relationship with Juliette Banner, a restaurateur, broke down on their very first day together on the Isle of Man after she found a message on his phone relating to a one-night stand. In his autobiography, Kershaw recognized the incident was of very little consequence to him and hinted that mixing up loyalty was one of his problems. Moreover, he found it in himself to write a number of times that he treated some of his former partners very badly. Following the split, Juliette obtained a restraining order against Kershaw, but he was jailed three times for flouting the order. At a later date, he confided to a judge that he had lost everything.
Andy Kershaw reveals prison time cost him everything when he found new love, but his sister Liz struck out at BBC.
Once Andy Kershaw revealed to a magistrate that he had “lost everything” after his breakup with Juliette Banner, the teenage stages of existence were very emotional for him as he was mourning the loss of not only his children and the woman he loved, but also his entire life. However, the prison time was a revelation in his life as a person, and new relationship emerged from it with Catherine Turner, a financial expert who happened to be the first person he met and interviewed years back. So when he was set free, Catherine advised him to make contact, and this led to a love relationship.
Kershaw comes from a typical educational family, where the father, Jack, and mother Eileen, who were headmaster and headmistress, respectively, gave the man to be the family. He also, besides being in school during broadcasting, had an older sister, Liz Kershaw, who went on to make a big name for herself in radio. Liz has been one of the longest-running female national radio DJs in the UK and has frequently talked about the ageism in the industry. In 2022, she said that the BBC had actually “done her a favour” after she had accused the corporation of dismissing her because she was over 60, and her cessation from BBC Radio 6 Music was what brought back criticism of the treatment of older women in broadcasting.
Liz Kershaw maintains ageism charge after BBC denies sexism accusation.
One BBC source downplayed the racism and sexism allegations, reminding that Liz Kershaw had only just been the face of a Radio 2 series for the Platinum Jubilee. However, Liz remained firm in her statement, claiming that the problem was not only about her and that although it is common for people to move on from their jobs, it was also really noticeable how many old men were left on the pop stations as for the women they were hardly seen. The BBC stated that the ruling was just a matter of changing program and that there were no other elements taken into consideration.