Obituary: 'Deep sadness' after death of controversial TV broadcaster with Harrogate connections

The Reform UK leader described radio and TV presenter James Whale, who has died aged 74 after a a long battle with kidney cancer, as “a broadcasting pioneer, a broadcasting legend and the king of late night phone-ins.”

Although born in Ewell, Surrey, while working in Leeds as host of The James Whale Radio Show on Radio Aire, the lively but softly-spoken Whale bought an old railway house near Harrogate.

His late wife Melinda Maxted, with whom he had two sons and who died in 2018 from lung cancer, ran The Italian Connection restaurant on Cold Bath Road in Harrogate where he could often be found when not on air or TV.

James Whale had begun his remarkable career in the early 1970s when he pioneered a new kind of radio in Britain, the late night shock jock phone in.

During his lengthy and successful career, Whale hosted many TV series, including Central Weekend Live for ITV, Talk About for BBC One and TalkTV, as well as appearing on Celebrity Big Brother.

In 2000, after contracting kidney cancer, he was given three months to live.

After surviving, he launched Kidney Cancer UK in 2006 for whom he raised hundreds of thousands of pounds.

He recovered enough from his terminal illness to walk down the aisle with Nadine Lamont-Brown in 2021.

In 2024, he was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours for his services to broadcasting and charity.

Known for being outspoken with extreme views at times, in 2008, he was sacked by TalkSPORT after he appealed to listeners to vote for Tory Boris Johnson in the London mayor elections.

Despite his condition, he continued hosting a weekly radio and TV show on TalkRadio.

He carried out his final interview with his "good friend" Nigel Farage, in his garden in mid-July.

On learning of his passing, Kidney Cancer UK posted: "It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of our friend, founder, and Lifetime President.”