Naga Munchetty: BBC presenter breaks down in tears announcing death of George Alagiah on Radio Five

Naga Munchetty broke down in tears today after learning of the death of her colleague George Alagiah live on air. Munchetty has worked for the BBC since 2008, and presented early morning bulletins for BBC News and BBC World News since 2010,

Alagiah, who had first been diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014, struggled with the illness for several years. After initial treatment, he was given the all clear, but his cancer returned in 2018, and he later confirmed it had spread and was terminal.

He took time off from his presenting duties on BBC News at 6 in October 2022, and his agent confirmed he had died this morning (24 July), surrounded by his loved ones.

Munchetty was presenting her two-hour radio show which is broadcast from 11am-1pm Monday-Friday, when she was told of Alagiah’s death.

She interrupted the sports bulletin which was being broadcast during a break in the show to tell listeners the sad news.

What did Naga Munchetty say about George Alagiah?

Speaking on BBC Radio Five, Munchetty said: “We’ve had the very sad news that our colleague George Alagiah, a BBC presenter, you will know him, has been living bowel cancer, and was first diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in 2014, and since has stepped back from presenting BBC News, we’ve just learned the news that he has died at the age of 65.” [Alagiah was actually aged 67 when he died].

As Munchetty’s voice broke during the sad announcement, she added: “Apologies for the emotion in my voice, he was so loved in our newsroom.”

Later in her show, Munchetty gave a personal tribute to her late friend, saying: “Our beloved colleague, George Alagiah, BBC News reporter, established reporter and correspondent, presenter who whenever he delivered the news you knew you were in safe hands.

“He was a voice we trusted and he was someone I can personally say I loved, he supported me greatly throughout my career. Apologies for the emotion in my voice but I do think this will be reflected in our newsroom and our thoughts of course primarily go out to those who loved him dearly and his family.”

Munchetty was joined by many others from television and politics who paid tribute to Alagiah, including BBC director general Tim Davie, presenter Clive Myrie, Labour leader Keir Starmer, and Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer.

Myrie had also struggled to keep the emotion out of his voice when he became choked up reporting Alagiah’s death on BBC News at One. Myrie said that Alagiah was a ‘mentor, colleague, and friend’.

Why was Naga Munchetty in hospital on Friday?

Munchetty shared an update on Friday (21 July) posting a photo of herself in a hospital bed to her Instagram page. 

In the video, she is seen giving blood at a hospital after finishing her shift on BBC Breakfast. Munchetty said: “I’ve just done the breakfast shift and I’ve just nipped into the donor centre to give some blood. It’ll be over in about 15/20 minutes. 

“I’m feeling good, the thing that makes me feel most good is that hopefully this will help save someone’s life.”