Gogglebox legend Linda McGarry has opened up on the tragic death of her son George Gilbey and how their family is navigating life without him.
Linda revealed that when her granddaughter Amelie Gilbey penned her Christmas list for Santa this year, she made a heartbreaking plea: that she’d happily give up all her presents if he could “bring my daddy back”, reports the Mirror.
The eight-year-old lost her dad – Celebrity Big Brother star George Gilbey – in March this year. The self-employed electrician, died after falling 80ft through a skylight while working on a roof. He suffered fatal injuries.
This Christmas will be the first his family will be without him. And Linda, who starred on Channel 4’s Gogglebox for years with her son and her husband Pete, says Amelie desperately misses her dad.
She says: “She’s done her Christmas list and it will break your heart. It says, ‘You can forget all of that if you bring my daddy back’. They had a Daddies Day [at school] and a girl was crying because her parents had broken up and Amelie said, ‘My daddy’s always with me everywhere I go. He’s in my heart.’”
George died while working on a warehouse in Essex. An air ambulance rushed to his aid, but he sadly died at the scene. At the opening of an inquest into his death in April, Essex coroner’s court heard he had fallen through a plastic skylight and that his injuries were “consistent with a fall from height”.
The Health and Safety Executive launched a joint investigation with police and two men were arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. One was released under investigation and the other released on bail.
Six months after George’s sad death, his mum Linda, 74, had a stroke, which she believes was triggered by the stress of losing her son. Recalling the terrifying moment she became ill, Linda tells OK! Magazine she was rushed to A&E by ambulance when her friend called her and Linda found she was unable to speak.
She says: “I’m so lucky that my friends were here and they got me to the hospital. On the tests, they couldn’t find where it had come from, but I think it’s the shock of George. There’s no bigger stress than what I went through.”
The last few years have been a struggle for the widow, who has Parkinson’s disease, who also lost George’s stepfather Pete to bowel cancer aged 71 in 2021. The pair – who fostered 140 kids during their time together – first appeared on Gogglebox alongside George in 2013.
George stepped away to appear on Celebrity Big Brother in 2014 the family left the Channel 4 show but returned in 2016. George left again two years later but Linda and Pete stayed on as regulars until 2020.
Now, Linda rewatches old episode of the programme to cope with her loss by reminding her of lovely memories. She says: “I can actually watch Gogglebox and see him. It makes me laugh when I’m in a good place.”
She added that she and George shared a close bond and used to speak daily. She says: “He used to phone me 12 times a day – he was a real mummy’s boy. He was so kind. The Saturday night before it happened, he was dancing with all the old girls down the club. He used to dance with everybody.”
Focusing on Amelie has also helped Linda cope. In the summer she jetted to Lanzarote for a week with her granddaughter and Amelie’s mum, George’s ex-girlfriend Gemma Conway. She says: “George still loved Gemma until the day he died. I don’t think he could have met anybody else, because he always talked about Gemma being so lovely. If Amelie ever played her mum up, he’d tell her, ‘You’ve got the best mum in the world, so do as you’re told.’”
Linda intends to return to Lanzarote soon to scatter George’s ashes on the beach, along with those of Pete and George’s dad. She says of the holiday: “It was perfect for Amelie. We went a whole week without crying in front of her. I promised her that [Lanzarote] is going to be our special place. It was absolutely wonderful.”
Amelie visits her grandmother Linda’s Essex home at least once a month for the weekend, and the grandma has kept George’s belongings and created a “fairy room” – somewhere for Amelie to remember her dad. As for Linda, a former pub landlady, she says her large network of family and friends has been a saving grace over the past year.
Looking ahead to next year, she’s booked a cruise and will soldier on in George’s memory, saying: “I make sure I put my make-up on and get out every day because George would want me to do that. There’s nothing I can do to bring him back. I’ve just got to have the best life I can.”
The grandma has found solace in singing, adding: “I’m mad on karaoke. It’s very good for Parkinson’s and keeps your mind active and is very good for the vocal cords. When I lost Pete, I said, ‘I’ll never sing again’. And George made a joke, saying, ‘Pete will be happy about that!’ But then [George] said, ‘No, carry on, you love it.’ I’ve got to try and be as happy as I can be, because George wouldn’t want me to be miserable.”
Read the full interview in OK! magazine, out on Tuesday
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story you can contact Samaritans in the UK and Ireland on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected].
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