Gyles’ best friend was Hi-De-Hi! actor Simon Cadell

This Morning regular Gyles Brandreth has opened up about the death of one of his “best friends”.

The TV star, 77, was back on the ITV show – hosted by Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley – on Monday (June 9).

During the show though, Gyles spoke about the “sad” death of one of his dear friends and revealed his heartbreak when they passed away.

Gyles opened up about his friend’s death (Credit: ITV)

This Morning star Gyles Brandreth on death of his best friend

Gyles appeared on This Morning alongside Camilla Tominey to chat about the latest news and headlines from around the world. The conversation soon turned onto the topic of best friends – and it was then that Gyles made a sad admission.

“Do you have any old friends from school?” Cat asked her guests.

Gyles replied: “I do, my best friend from school. Sadly I lost him when he was only in his forties. People will have heard of him, well an older generation will. He was an actor called Simon Cadell. He was in Hi-de-Hi!. Do you remember him, he asked Cat?”

“I do,” she said.

He reflected on their friendship (Credit: ITV)

Gyles on his friendship with Simon

Photos of Gyles and Simon then appeared on the screen as Gyles pointed out: “That’s him at our wedding!”

Reflecting on Simon, Gyles said: “He was lovely. We were at school together and he was a year younger than me.”

Gyles then recalled: “I put on a production when I was 13 or 14 of Sherlock Holmes. He played Holmes and he was brilliant!”

“He was,” Ben then agreed.

‘It was a great sadness’

Sharing more about his dear friend, Gyles tod Ben and Cat: “He went on to be a very successful actor, he played Hamlet. He was a lovely guy. It was a great sadness for me to lose him, because you do need your best friends.”

Sending her support, Cat sounded sad as she said: “Aww.” Ben was also supportive as Gyles spoke about his late friend.

What happened to Simon Cadell?

Simon played the role of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of BBC’s Hi-de-Hi!.

In January 1993, Simon – a heavy smoker – suffered a heart attack. As a result, he underwent a triple heart bypass surgery but was diagnosed with lymphoma later that year.

He died aged 45 in London on March 6, 1996.