Studio 10 star Angela Bishop has broken down in tears live on air discovering her close friend John Kennerley had passed away.
Angela’s co-host Kerri-Anne Kennerley broke the news to her Instagram followers moments before the news broke live to audiences around Australia. Her co-host Sarah Harris was the one to break the devastating news to her co-stars.
“We’ve just had some news come through from our dear colleague and friend, Kerri-Anne,” Sarah said. “She’s just posted on Instagram this morning.”
She then read Kerri-Anne’s post about her husband’s death, causing Angela to break down in tears.
‘Kerri-Anne, we are sending you so much love, darling,” Sarah said. “She is such an extraordinary woman.
“She has been putting on a smile and coming to work and braving all of this stuff that just does not matter while her husband has been terribly, terribly sick. The most awful things have been written about her. She is a spectacular woman and she’s been holding it together at home and we’re sending her and her family so much love.”
Angela added: “John is someone I’ve known, with Kerri-Anne, for more than two decades and he is just an extraordinary man, beautiful warm heart.”
She explained that her own late husband and John became good friends because they were always the plus ones at events.
“This is just devastating news,” she added. “He really was the love of Kerri-Anne’s life. There is absolutely no question. They were couple goals. They really were.”
Meanwhile, Richard Reid also shared his memories of John and how in love he was with Kerri-Anne.
“They were so beautiful together, even before John’s accident, which was just a devastating blow. So unfair. You’d see them out at parties or the races,” Richard said. “I’m sorry, they were a couple in love. They were like a couple of kids in love. She would just beam at him and he would beam at her and it was just so fabulous. My heart is so heavy.”
He called his co-star a “legend” and a “beautiful woman”, while Sarah added she was “strong” and “tough”. Angela recalled seeing John just weeks earlier at the premiere for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and that he had a great time.
“He was such a special guy, it’s the saddest news,” she said. “Just sending all our strength to Kerri-Anne. She’s an incredible woman.”
Kerri-Anne broke the news of her husband’s death on Instagram on Thursday morning.
“It’s with a heavy heart and awful sadness that I let you know that my beautiful husband John passed away last night,” she wrote. “As you all know, John has faced some tremendous challenges over the past few years and with each he has been extraordinarily brave and determined to overcome those hurdles and live a normal life.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuZukCDHsYS/
“I want to thank everyone at St Vincent’s Hospital for the beautiful care they have provided to John in his last days.”
Kerri-Anne explained that her husband passed away with her and his son Simon by his side. She described John as the love of her life.
He sustained spinal cord damage following a freak fall in 2016, when he slipped off a balcony at a golf course in Coffs Harbour.
John was placed into an induced coma and taken to Sydney where he had emergency surgery on his spine, but the incident left him paralysed and he had to relearn how to speak.