Freddy Marks of TV trio Rod, Jane and Freddy has died at the age of 71.

The entertainer was known for appearing in children’s series Rainbow and The Rod, Jane And Freddy Show. 

Freddy’s death was first reported on a Rainbow fansite on Facebook on Friday, with his co-star and wife Jane Tucker later confirming the news to MailOnline. 

Freddy died on 20 May, four days after being admitted to Princess Alice Hospice in Esher, Surrey. 

He had been diagnosed with cancer in January, and been given just months to live. 

“I’m totally devastated by his loss and it’s going to take me and a lot of other people in the country a long time to get over this,” Jane said. 

She has been supported in her grief by co-star and Rod Burton, who she was previously married to until 1979. 

“Rod is feeling Freddy’s loss very deeply,” she said. “For a long time, the three of us were inseparable. We toured together, did Rainbow for a long time and were all very close.

“Both Rod and I still processing his death… Freddy was everything to me. And he also meant a lot to Rod.”

Freddy and Jane married in 2016 after beginning a relationship in 1986, seven years after Jane’s amicable split from Rod. 

Freddy rose to fame after joining the cast of Rainbow in 1980, when he replaced Roger Walker in the singing and presenting trio. Roger had previously replaced original member Matthew Corbett in the trio. 

Together, Rod, Jane and Freddy continued to host Rainbow until 1989. 

They also fronted their own ITV series The Rod, Jane And Freddy Show between 1981 and 1991.