Alzheimer’s forces Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales to quit presenting Great Canal Journeys with husband Timothy West
TELLY duo Prunella Scales and Timothy West have been replaced on Great Canal Journeys due to her ailing health.
Fawlty Towers star Prunella, 87, has Alzheimer’s and she filmed her final episode last year.
She will not be returning to the boat for the popular Channel 4 show with husband Timothy, 85.
Pru, best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the BBC sitcom, is said to be too frail to film.
Gyles Brandreth, 71, and Sheila Hancock, 86, who have appeared on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox together, will take over.
A source said: “It’s not a decision Pru and Tim have taken lightly but they’re delighted it’s Gyles and Sheila.”
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Tim will join the new pair to show them the ropes in the first episode of the next series later this year. Pru and Tim, married for 57 years, made her Alzheimer’s public in 2014.
But they went on to make more than 30 episodes of the programme, which has followed them on narrowboats all over the world.
In a statement, they told The Sun: “Good luck Gyles and Sheila. Enjoy the countryside and the pubs . . .”
Veg and tea 'cut risk'
PLENTY of fruit and veg and regular cups of tea helps halve the risk of dementia, a study suggests.
Experts said they are all rich in antioxidant flavonols.
Rush University in Chicago followed 921 healthy people with an average age of 81 for the study published in journal Neurology.
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