Legendary broadcaster Johnnie Walker, who has announced his retirement after 58 years, has the support of his wife as he battles a debilitating health condition
BBC Radio 2’s Johnnie Walker has made the difficult decision to bring his radio career to an end.
The legendary broadcaster, 79, told listeners on Sunday that he will be stepping down from presenting his two shows – Sounds of the 70s and The Rock Show – later this month. In a moving message on air, Johnnie said he had a “very sad announcement” and detailed his “struggles” away from work.
The radio star explained that trying to keep up a “professional standard” has been “getting more and more difficult” as he battles a debilitating health condition. So, he has decided to retire after 58 years and his colleague, Bob Harris, will be taking over his beloved 70s show from November 3.
The veteran broadcaster is now completely housebound as he battles Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a long-term condition in which the lungs become inflamed and breathing becomes more difficult. Johnnie, who has recorded his show from his Dorset home since the start of the pandemic, has suffered from the condition for four years.
He is now being cared for by his beloved wife, Tiggy. On their BBC Sounds podcast last month, she said health consultants told the couple that Johnnie should heartbreakingly “prepare to go” at any time. He previously said that he accepts he has “only a finite amount of time left here in the physical” before he passes over.
Tiggy said on the programme: “It was only by going to the doctors and going on antidepressants that I have kept going, because I was crying every single day and I was overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of everything I had to do. I’m so tired. Sometimes I find it hard to go on.”
Opening up about Johnnie’s health, she revealed a trip to broadcast his show from Wogan’s House in London on New Year’s Eve had a devastating effect, sharing: “I expected him to be tired the next day, but something far worse happened. The effort had been too great on his already sick body. It was as if his health fell off a cliff.”
Tiggy continued in Dorset Magazine: “I expected him to be tired the next day, but something far worse happened. The effort had been too great on his already sick body. It was as if his health fell off a cliff. The weeks that followed were a blur of nurses, doctors, oxygen machines and wheelchairs.
“In 24 hours, our lives had changed out of all recognition. That was in January, and The Pirate has not left home since then, I am a carer 24/7.” Johnnie previously cared for Tiggy when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. He previously told the Mirror: “On the evening my wife Tiggy told me she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, we did what any couple probably would – we cried and held each other tight.
“Tiggy was so healthy. She ate well, exercised, didn’t smoke. It didn’t seem possible she could be ill. She was 52 at the time and a picture of well-being. We’d felt certain that the lump would be a cyst. I felt physically sick at the news. But in those darkest of moments, we also found the strength to smile. I remember saying to her: ‘Well, at least now it’s an equal opportunities marriage’.”
If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found on Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis.
