Gyles Brandreth looking angry on This Morning in black jumper
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This Morning’s Gyles Brandreth shares his guilt over death of friend Rod Hull: ‘I killed a man’

Rod died in a tragic accident in 1999

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This Morning star Gyles Brandreth has candidly admitted he feels responsible for the death of his close friend Rod Hull.

Gyles has even claimed that he “killed” his friend, after encouraging him to climb up onto his roof.

The This Morning star, who is a beloved TV personality and former MP, confessed he “blames” himself for the death of the legendary entertainer.

Rod died in a fatal accident in 1999, after slipping from his roof.

Gyles Brandreth looking angry on This Morning in black jumper
Gyles Brandreth has admitted he feels guilty for the death of his friend (Credit: This Morning / ITV)

This Morning star Gyles ‘encouraged’ Rod onto roof

According to The Sun, the broadcaster will admit his guilt on his Rosebud podcast.

Gyles – who hosts this weekend’s Funniest Royal Cock-Ups (July 6) – confessed: “I killed a man – it was Rod Hull, the emu man.”

Gyles went on to detail that while attending the theatre with Gyles, Rod complained of suffering from bad signal due to his television aerial and how it was interrupting his viewing of the football.

Rod Hull wearing a turtle-neck with curly hair
Rod Hull died at the age of 63 (Credit: YouTube)

The former politician then explained he told Rod: “Don’t moan about it, if you want to watch the television get a ladder out, climb on to the roof, and fix it Rod.”

So I wasn’t actually there, but I’d encouraged him.

Gyles then described that Rod went home and did just that, but unfortunately due to the bad weather, Rod slipped and fell to his death. He had suffered a severe skull fracture and chest injuries.

Although Gyles wasn’t there at the scene, he feels he is to blame.

“Unfortunately the wind was very great and he fell backwards off the ladder and killed himself. So I wasn’t actually there, but I’d encouraged him.”

Rod died at age 63. Ultimately, the incident was ruled as accidental.

Rod Hull with his emu puppet
Rod Hull is best known for his acts with puppet Emu (Credit: YouTube)

Gyles Brandreth slammed for tasteless joke about dead star

His admission comes after the star was slammed earlier this year for making a “tasteless” joke about the late singer, Kenny Rogers.

On this This Morning in January, two images of Kenny before and after undergoing cosmetic work flashed up onto the screen.

Gyles said: “Kenny Rogers is looking good. He acknowledges that he has had some work done.”

Camilla Tominey then quipped: “Is he able to close his eyes?”

Gyles joked: “[He] looks totally surprised, like you’ve been woke up in the middle of the night!”

He then did an impression of widening his eyes.

But viewers weren’t impressed, with one stating: “Kenny Rogers died in 2020, lack of research by show producers.”

Another fumed: “Well that’s a tasteless gaffe by Gyles, seeing as Kenny Rogers is dead!”

Read more: ITV star Gyles Brandreth on Tipping Point being ‘worst experience of his life’: ‘Had bad dreams about Ben ever since’ 

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Gyles narrates Funniest Royal Cock-Ups on Channel 5 Saturday (July 6) at 7pm.

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Emily Towers
TV & Showbiz Writer
Emily loves to write about the latest trending news, whether it’s reality TV chaos or Royal drama. She also has a passion for translating editorial content into share-worthy social media posts after spending two years as a social media manager and marketing executive.