ITV Granada Reports host Tony Morris has died at age 57, according to ITV.com.
The outlet reported that Morris died at Bury Hospice on Saturday, August 1. He had been diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2019.
On Monday, Morris’ daughter, Natalie Morris, took to Twitter with a tribute to her father. “We lost our incredible dad on Saturday morning. He was more than a parent, he was also our best friend. We are utterly heartbroken, but so grateful for the time we had with him.”
We lost our incredible dad on Saturday morning. He was more than a parent, he was also our best friend. We are utterly heartbroken, but so grateful for the time we had with him
We will be offline with family for a while, but so appreciative of the lovely messages
Nat & Becky x
Natalie Morris then posted again, requesting that rather than send flowers, people make donations to Bury Hospice.
Tony Morris’ former co-host, Lucy Meacock, retweeted Natalie’s message and wrote, “It is with a broken heart I retweet this… My thoughts are with his family and all who loved him x.”
Morris Worked as a Bulletin Presenter for BBC North West Tonight
Prior to working with ITV, Morris worked as a reporter and bulletin presenter for BBC North West Tonight. He also reported for BBC national news.
Cheshire Life reported that Morris was a “former Royal Air Force officer and radio presenter.”
The TV presenter was born in Portsmouth.
According to Mirror, Morris helped Granada Reports become the first regional news program to win a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award, the 2007 News Coverage award.
In a 2010 interview with Cheshire Life, Morris opened up about past interviews. Reflecting on one particular program with Gillian Duffy, he said:
We did a live programme outside Gillian Duffys house and there was an army of reporters and photographers camped in the street. What was really funny was that the people who lived there were surprised to see so much media there. People get to recognise you and one guy came up to me and asked how long the camera trucks were going to be there because he couldnt park his car. I love situations like that.
Morris added that while he wasn’t born in Lancashire, he considered himself a northerner. He told Cheshire Life, “I have lived up here now for longer than I lived down south. This is my home; this is where I love to be. I love the area and the people.”
Family & Friends Have Flocked to Twitter to Mourn the Loss
Here’s @CroneyITV remembering the Tony Morris that we in the office, and our viewers at home, knew and loved RIP Tony t.co/Zw8Tqbxgqf
Once news of Morris’ passing surfaced on social media, a number of fans posted tributes about the ITV host.
Paul Crone of ITV posted a short video tribute to Morris in which he said Morris had a “wicked, wicked sense of humor.”
Crone continued, “I can’t tell you how kind and caring he was… but you could get him to laugh way, way too easy.”
Radio presenter Adrian Goldberg also tweeted about the loss, writing, “Stunned and saddened to hear of the death of Tony Morris who I knew from his time as a presenter for @bbc5live in Birmingham. We bumped into each other a few times over the years and he never changed. Really nice bloke, always cheerful and up for a laugh. RIP.”
Morris’ co-presenter of 17 years, Lucy Meacock, wrote, “He was without doubt one of the most humble, kind, and funny people I have ever met, and he would often make me laugh till my sides ached.”
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