Former BBC Radio 2 personality Steve Wright, 69, did not die "due to a broken heart" after losing his radio program as some speculated, his brother Laurence Wright, 65, told The Daily Mirror. The network fired Steve Wright from his long-running afternoon radio show in 2022.
"He was aware that he could have looked after himself better in his lifestyle choices. Obviously, we all wish he had," Laurence Wright said of his brother, who he claimed hid any health issues or illness.
"It's like anyone who doesn't look after themselves over an extended period. The normal stuff - diet, nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress - he was a very stoic kind of guy as well, so if he had something wrong with him and he had to go to have some treatment or go to the doctors, he wouldn't talk about it," he added.
Paramedics responded to a call at Steve Wright's London flat on Monday. The sad news of his passing came later that day when police released a statement that he'd "died suddenly," which started the rumor mill.
At the end of September 2022, the BBC cut Steve Wright from his popular afternoon program from its lineup. Fans were outraged after learning that he wasn't leaving on his own volition.
Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills replaced him in the time slot, but Steve Wright remained at the network with his Sunday Love Songs gig every weekend. The last program he recorded aired just the day before he died.
Gary Farrow, a longtime friend of the deceased, rushed to judgment following the news and perhaps spurred on the speculation. "Steve lived for that show; he absolutely loved it - and the listeners loved him," Farrow, who is also a celebrity publicist, said.
"My view is that he died from a broken heart," Farrow claimed. He added that he could "never understand" how the network "let him go" when Steve Wright was a fan favorite.
"It devastated him," Farrow said. He claimed the late radio host didn't receive any care or support from his former network after being let go despite his career being his "life."
However, Laurence Wright didn't believe his brother was overly distressed about being let go. "Although he didn't think it was fair that he'd lost the gig, he needed that rest, really," he said.
"So he kind of welcomed the fact that he wouldn't have to do the show day in, day out." It also seems the narrative about the lack of support was not accurate either.
Even if BBC Radio didn't lift a finger, Laurence and Steven Wright shared a close relationship and recently spent time together with their father and other family. Instead, Laurence Wright, who is the head of a company in the health and fitness field, chalks up his brother's untimely death to lifestyle.
He explained that Steve Wright's diet "could have done with a bit more balance," noting that his brother liked to dine out. The late BBC host barely drank and recently quit smoking cigars, which he had only done occasionally anyway. While there is no official cause of death, authorities believe nothing was suspicious about his death.
Firing Steve Wright from his own show was a cold and unkind action on the part of the network he gave so much to over the years. Even if he didn't directly die of a broken heart, it couldn't have helped to be unceremoniously replaced.
