The Chase’s Paul Sinha mourns long-time quiz buddy struck down by coronavirus

British The Chase star Paul Sinha is mourning a long-time friend and quiz buddy who reportedly died of coronavirus.

According to the Mirror Online, the TV personality took to Twitter on Tuesday to write a now-deleted tribute to his friend Jon Jacobs, who he said had died after contracting the virus.

“Woken up to the news that Jon Jacob, my friend, and quiz teammate for the last decade, has succumbed to corona,” Sinha tweeted. “Farewell mate, we smashed Sunday afternoons. And you’ll always be the Greatest Classical Music Quizzer ever.”

Others were quick to offer their condolences, with Paddy Duffy, who is a quiz-master on BBC Radio 4’s Round Britain Quiz, writing: “I’m beyond gutted to learn of the passing of my friend and quiz teammate Jon Jacob, due to Covid-19 complications. Just a lovely man, brilliant fun and incredibly erudite. I’ll remember fondly our Sunday matches and our japes on the quiz holiday in Rhodes. RIP, Jon”.

Jenny Jacob, who’s known as The Vixen on Britain’s The Chase, also  paid tribute to Jacob, posting on Instagram that “I lost one of my quiz brethren to the virus”.

 

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When I got this badge for Christmas, it was funny. Now it’s necessary. Last night I lost one of my quiz brethren to the virus. It hammers home the message. Stay home, stay clean, stay safe. Be kind to all those who are still heading out to help – not just the amazing NHS staff and carers, but all the workers in grocery shops and pharmacies, including logistics, warehouses and deliveries, postal workers, those keeping our utilities going, the teachers still providing care and learning, the volunteers staffing food banks and arranging deliveries to the most vulnerable, of course the police and fire service…and lots more. They’re out there taking the burden so the rest of us can do our bit (by staying in and doing jigsaws or watching box sets) so they deserve gratitude and kindness.

A post shared by Jenny Ryan (@jenny_from_the_quiz) on Mar 24, 2020 at 5:54am PDT

The tragic news comes just days after Sinha revealed that he had been suffering from symptoms of the virus. “Although I can’t be sure and I can’t be tested it seems likely I have coronavirus,” he tweeted on Sunday. “Started social distancing a few days too late. Anyone upsets me; I’ll be around to sneeze in your home.”

https://twitter.com/paulsinha/status/1241799481395421191

Sinha has been battling Parkinson’s disease, having been diagnosed in 2019. “I have Parkinson’s disease,” he wrote at the time. “I will fight this with every breath I have.”

The 49-year-old TV star and comedian also penned a very emotional blog post about his diagnosis, simply titled ‘Diagnosed’, in which he revealed that he was delivered the life-altering news in May 2019, but did not make his condition public until August.

“On the evening of Thursday May 30th, an experienced consultant neurologist calmly informed me that I had Parkinson’s disease,” he wrote on his Sinha blog. Paul revealed that his path to diagnosis was a long one, having started in September 2017 when he suffered a frozen right shoulder, which then led him to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and lose two stone, before undergoing a shoulder operation in January last year.

However things took a turn for the worse during a trip to New Zealand, when Paul said he noticed his right-sided limp was getting worse. Mobility issues are a common symptom of Parkinson’s disease, due to muscles losing flexibility. Involuntary shaking (tremors) in parts of the body and slow movement are other common symptoms.