Michael Mosley – latest: Wife says TV doctor ‘nearly made it’ after body found metres from safety on Symi

The Hay Festival shared black and white photos of Dr Mosley taken during his appearance at the literature and arts festival last month.

Organisers of the annual event in Hay-on-Wye wrote on X: “It was a privilege to share his work on our stages. Our thoughts go to his family, friends and colleagues.

The BBC’s Chief Content Officer has paid tribute to Dr Michael Mosley, praising him as a “brilliant” science broadcaster and programme maker who will be “hugely missed”.

In a statement issued today, Charlotte Moore said: “We are deeply saddened about the news of Dr Michael Mosley and our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time.

“Michael worked closely with BBC Radio 4 and the BBC Studios Science Unit for many years on groundbreaking science and health programmes from Medical Mavericks, Eat Fast Live Longer, Inside Michael Mosley and The Young Ones, to Trust me I’m a Doctor. He also made regular appearances on Morning Live and The One Show, and of course presented his own hugely popular and successful BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds podcast Just One Thing.

“He was a brilliant science broadcaster and programme maker, able to make the most complex subjects simple, but he was also passionate about engaging and entertaining audiences, inspiring us all to live a healthier, fuller life. His entertaining and accessible style was enjoyed by audiences around the world and he will be hugely missed by many people not least those fortunate enough to have worked with him at the BBC.”

Michael Mosley’s publisher, Octopus Publishing Group, has paid tribute to the presenter after his family confirmed that he had died on the Greek island of Symi after going missing on Wednesday.

The statement said: “We are devastated by the news of Dr Michael Mosley’s tragic death. Our hearts and thoughts are with his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, and their family.

“From his ground-breaking book, The Fast Diet, in 2013 to his most recent life-changing book Just One Thing in 2022, it has been a joy, a pleasure and a privilege to work closely with him on his bestselling books that have changed millions of people’s lives for the better.

“A talented TV presenter and producer, he dedicated his time to educating and empowering millions across the world to live longer, healthier lives and his powerful legacy is a gift that will live on as viewers, listeners and readers continue to enjoy a better quality of life via his books and his journalism, TV programmes, the Fast 800 community, and his BBC podcast, Just One Thing.

“A brilliant, warm, funny and kind man, Michael will be so greatly missed.”

Ted Verity, editor of Mail Newspapers, described Dr Michael Mosley as a “unique and unmissable columnist” in a tribute following the confirmation of his death on a Greek island.

In a statement, Mr Verity said: “Everyone at the Mail is absolutely devastated to hear of the death of Dr Michael Mosley. Michael wasn’t just a unique and unmissable columnist. He was part of the Mail family.

“Since he first wrote for us in 2011, we have published hundreds of his weekly columns and serialised many of his best-selling books – from the ground-breaking Fast Diets to others on gut health and sleep.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that over the years Michael’s insights – especially his revelation that you can reverse type two diabetes – will have extended, and even saved, the lives of countless readers.

“In person, whether warning of the perils of skimmed milk or enthusing about his latest madcap experiment on his own body, Michael was as electrifying as he was in print and on TV.

“What shone through was his irrepressible curiosity – he was always hungry to learn about the very latest, cutting-edge science and medicine and then explain it to readers in a way that was both engaging and comprehensible to a mainstream audience.

“Michael was also extremely kind, not hesitating to be one of the first to offer his home as sanctuary to a Ukrainian family.

“And he always spoke with enormous love and warmth of his wife Clare, his co-author on many projects, and four children Alexander, Jack, Daniel and Katherine.

“Our hearts go out to them all.”

This Morning posted on social media that staff at the ITV programme were “heartbroken” to learn that Michael Mosley, a regular contributor, had died.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the show said: “We’re all heartbroken to hear that Michael Mosley has died at the age of 67.

“His wife Clare has paid tribute to her ‘wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband’.

“Everyone at This Morning is thinking of Clare, their four children and the rest of Michael’s family and friends at this extremely sad time.”

It advocated the “5:2” method of drastically restricting your calorie consumption on two days out of every seven, and was an immediate sensation upon its release.

Everyone from celebrity chefs to politicians to the colleague you bumped into in the kitchen seemed to be singing its praises.

Written under a post on the local Rhodes Facebook group, discussing the disappearance of Dr Michael Mosley a few days ago, was the comment: “He’s such a genuine person, passionate about helping others,” while another wrote, “I owe him so much,” before explaining his how one of his books “practically saved my life”. Sadly, a body believed to be his has now been found, with tributes flooding in from Jamie Oliver and Piers Morgan.

I first interviewed Michael Mosley in 2019. I knew all about him of course. He was one of the UK’s most well-known doctors and presented several BBC documentaries, appeared on This Morning, and wrote several bestselling books including The 5:2 Diet in 2013, which sold more than 1.4 million copies. It was revolutionary in popularising the idea of intermittent fasting, which until then few of us had ever heard of.

The next time we spoke was a few months later in April 2020 when the UK had just been thrown into lockdown.

A coroner was at the scene in Symi and the body will be taken to Rhodes for a post-mortem, according to officials.

Symi is part of the Dodecanese island group, about an hour’s ferry ride from Rhodes and approximately four nautical miles off the Turkish coast.