Shropshire stars join tributes to Sir Terry Wogan

Chris Evans dedicated his Radio 2 show to Sir Terry Wogan as he paid tribute to the veteran broadcaster who died, aged 77, on Sunday. If you want to say something, say something nice about me.

Even close friends were unaware of the gravity of his condition because, according to fellow broadcaster Henry Kelly, he had “put it out that he had a bad back”.

Despite Sir Terry’s experience and great reputation Mayo, who first met him covering the 1992 Olympics, said he was the opposite of intimidating.

He said: “I took a day off last week and went over to see him, not knowing that it would be the last time I would see him, but once I was over there I realised I would not be seeing Terry again”.

Past year he pulled out of hosting Children In Need for “health reasons”.

“I grew up watching children in need and euro vision each year & it just won’t be the same without him”.

Speaking outside BBC Broadcasting House, Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo added: “I think people are shocked and stunned because of the fact that he was a radio genius”.

‘Effortless’ Some of the warmest tributes came from Irish broadcasters in Britain, led by Graham Norton, who succeeded Wogan as Eurovision commentator.

David Cameron also paid tribute to Sir Terry, hailing him as “a wonderful human being” on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show.

He was a lovely, lovely man and our thoughts are with his wife and family. RIP Sir Terry Wogan. From February, 2010, he hosted a live show on Sunday mornings on the radio station, and made his final broadcast on 8 November past year.

“I was really heartbroken and have remained so ever since”, Fr D’Arcy said.

“He always made you smile, made you laugh”, the Prime Minister added. Rehearsal – he knew the meaning of the word, knew the concept, never actually applied it. What you saw, what you heard, was exactly what you got.

Praising his ability to shine on both television and radio, former CNN talk show host Piers Morgan argued Wogan was simply a “legend of all airwaves”.

Esther Rantzen, who worked with Wogan on the first Children in Need telethon in 1980, said his genial public persona was an accurate reflection of the warmth of the private person.

Sir Terry played a leading role in raising hundreds of millions of pounds for children’s charities.

“He probably was the most popular and most listened to broadcaster in the world – he had more listeners than all the rest of us combined”.

“I spent 15 years on that breakfast show with him and I regret not one single day”, he said.

Bruce said working with him was “always a joy and always a surprise”, and added: “He just wanted everybody to be happy and he created a lovely atmosphere in his studio”.

“Alicia and I are far away in Florida at the moment but our thoughts and condolences are with Helen and the family”, he said in a statement.