Broadcaster and journalist John Hannam has died aged 80, his family have confirmed.
John peacefully passed away in his sleep at St Mary’s Hospital on Wednesday, following a short illness.
The broadcasting legend was known as being the host of Britain’s longest running non-stop radio chat show and for his traditional style of interview – believing in face-to-face interviews over telephone calls.
Over the decades John interviewed some of the country’s greatest, from Bruce Forsyth to Cliff Richard, Victoria Wood to Judi Dench and quite literally almost everyone in between. He is said to have interviewed over 5,000 people over almost 50 years.
John was born in East Cowes and attended Grange Road Primary School, later moving to Cowes Secondary Modern. He was a keen runner and cricketer with a love for theatre.
It was a visit to the Isle of Wight Hospital Radio studio in the 1970s that led to John’s career in broadcasting. Then, in 1975, he joined the Isle of Wight Weekly Post and continued writing for the paper for 15 years. This led on to John travelling the country for The Stage, interviewing hundreds of showbiz stars.
‘John Hannam Meets’ began in 1990 and ran for over 20 years on Isle of Wight Radio. In more recent years, John released a series of books.
John is survived by his children Sean and Caroline.
Darren Toogood, Editor of Island Echo, has said:
“Quite simply, there will never be another broadcaster and journalist quite like John. He earned the respect of all and will be truly missed”.
I met him a few times, a very pleasant gentleman. Rest in Peace John.
RIP John a great man.
Lovely man,and great to talk to,will be sadly missed ,R.I.P. John
Gosh, really sad to hear that. John was a lovely man.
A lovely man who is sadly missed I’m so glad I got to meet him and his lovely sense of humour , rest in peace John ❤
Night night to a legend .. thank you for making our lives brighter over the years.
Condolences to John’s family.
I’m very sorry to hear this. I always read his columns when they appear in local publications. Sad to think there won’t be any more. Rest in peace lovely man.
Used to enjoy listening to “John Hannam meets”. RIP.