Dale Winton’s famous friends have been sharing their memories of the star, following the news of his death.

Earlier this week, the former ‘Supermarket Sweep’ host’s publicist confirmed that he had died at his home, at the age of 62.

Since then, a number of his peers and close friends have been reflecting on their own memories, including fellow presenter Paul O’Grady who reminisced in a piece published in The Mirror.

He recalled: “Dale didn’t have a bad bone in his body. It amazed me he had so much time for members of the public. He was always so jolly.”

Reflecting on their mutual friendship with Cilla Black, Paul added: “We both spent time with her at her place in Spain.

“One time, 20 years ago, he was the one making sure Cilla was in bed early and I was the bad one who was out partying until 5am. It was a joke between the three of us, he was Nurse Winton and I was Nurse Savage.”

Danny Baker also shared his memories of Dale, telling ‘Good Morning Britain’ on Friday (20 April): “Here’s thing about Dale. On TV he was terrific, but he always looked like he was on his best behaviour.

“But in private he was never on his best behaviour and he was a thousand times more entertaining, if you’ll forgive me. Television he did the job.”

Shortly after hearing the news of his death, comedian Steve Allen shared a story with his LBC listeners about when Dale once effortlessly handled a homophobic incident in public.

Speaking on his radio show on Thursday (19 April), he said: “One time we walked out of a hotel in Sheffield, he was always very arch, which means he didn’t really hold back on anything, and as we walked out, four people walking in, two couples, saw it was Dale and one of the blokes went, ‘Poof!’.

“We get to the car and I think ’oh thank god he hasn’t heard it. And he said, ‘Steve, I will be back in a minute’ and I thought, ‘oh no!’.”

Steve continued: “He went up to the bloke and he said ‘Yes I am… and I’m very proud of it… and I laugh all the way to the bank!’

“And this bloke just stood there with his wife who went all dumbstruck. I don’t think they were expecting him to come back and say anything.”

David Walliams was also among the first to pay tribute, posting his own memories of Dale, while TV presenter Davina McCall and West End star Michael Ball also paid their respects on social media.