Former BBC Breakfast host Sian Williams has called for a day of silence for all the people killed by COVID-19.
The TV journalist, 56, who is back on screens for Channel 5’s Secrets of Your Supermarket Food, is best known to many for her role on the BBC One daytime show.
On Twitter this week, Sian was responding to a tweet about victims of the coronavirus pandemic when she said people could do with a “full day of quiet reflection”.
Sky journalist Nick Stylianou tweeted, after it emerged that the UK had seen more than 100,000 deaths from the deadly bug: “If we held just one second of silence for every person who has died so far, it would last 27 hours, 49 minutes and 22 seconds.”
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Sian shared the tweet for her own followers, writing alongside it: “Maybe we should… one full day of silence. One full day of quiet reflection.”
Maybe we should…one full day of silence. One full day of quiet reflection. https://t.co/Equ9beVfg6
— Dr Sian Williams (@sianwilliams100) January 26, 2021
Who is ex BBC Breakfast host Sian Williams?
Sian is a journalist, author and TV presenter.
She was born in London to Welsh parents and studied English and History at university, before starting her TV career with BBC News in the late ’90s.
Sian is married to fellow journalist Paul Woolwich and they have two children, son Seth and daughter Evie. Sian also has two grown-up sons from her first marriage to Neale Hunt, as well as a step-daughter called Emily.
What shows has Sian Williams been in and why did she quit BBC Breakfast?
Sian joined the BBC Breakfast line-up in 2001 and was with the programme for 11 years. But she departed in 2012 when the studio moved north to the BBC’s Salford HQ from Television Centre.
According to the BBC, both she and presenter Chris Hollins decided not to remain with the show for ‘personal reasons’.
In 2015, she left the BBC to become the main host of Channel 5 News. She said in a statement at the time: “With Channel 5 pledging to boost its coverage even further, it’s a terrific opportunity and an exciting challenge to join this talented and impressive team.”
Sian has also appeared in Doctor Who as herself and the celebrity editions of programmes such as Antiques Road Trip, Pointless, Eggheads and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
The star has worked on Channel 5’s Secrets of Your Supermarket Food – which is back for a new series – since the show launched in 2019.
Did Sian Williams have cancer?
Yes, doctors diagnosed Sian with breast cancer in 2014.
It came just a week after her 50th birthday and she underwent a double mastectomy.
Speaking to Woman and Home magazine, she revealed that her biggest fear was not being around for her children.
She told the publication: “My biggest fear was not being there as a mum – and for some unfathomable reason, I couldn’t stop thinking that I want to be here for my daughter Evie to watch her get married.”
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Heartbreakingly, her daughter Evie asked if she herself would get cancer, after asking if all mums got the disease.
In extracts from her diary published by the Daily Mail, she penned: “I want them to know that cancer isn’t always a death sentence, like it was for their granny.
“I want them to know that you can have cancer and still be you, even when a part of you has been taken away. I want them to understand that hospitals are not full of fear.”
– Secrets of Your Supermarket Food airs Wednesdays at 8pm on Channel 5
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