‘I feel humbled and a bit emotional really’: Bradley Walsh fights back tears as he celebrates his 60th birthday with Holly and Phil on This Morning
Bradley Walsh celebrated his 60th birthday with an emotional surprise party on ITV’s This Morning led by Holly Willougby and Phillip Schofield.
The TV star, who reaches the milestone on Thursday, fought back tears as he reflected on his career as he linked up to the studio from his Essex home.
The gameshow host was speaking to the pair ahead of a special hour-long show dedicated to him on Wednesday night.
Emotional: Bradley Walsh had to fight back the tears as he celebrated his 60th birthday with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning
Holly and Phil wore party hats, fired party poppers and tied up balloons to mark the special occasion, and bought him a basket of Wine Gums, his favourite sweets.
But the actor said he had put on a stone in lockdown so might have to stave off for a while.
After sharing their congratulations, Bradley told the hosts: ‘It seemed like only yesterday I had my 50th birthday, then all of a sudden, this thing’s happening on the telly, I feel humbled and a bit emotional actually.’
Special day: The This Morning hosts decked out the studio with balloons, party poppers and party hats for the celebrations
Milestone: The actor and gameshow host looked back on his long career in showbusiness during the chat
After Holly praised the entertainer for his huge body of work and for still going strong at 60, Bradley shared what he learned at the start of his journey into showbusiness.
He said: ‘A massive piece of advice I was given early on in my career was whatever you do, the easiest part of showbusiness is giving up. Don’t.
‘So when I got a knock back I kept going. I did my first gigs in 1981 and I turned pro in 1986 and from then I went on and on.
‘I’ve had a fantastic time, I’ve really enjoyed it.’
Got the giggles: Holly and Phil were in stitches when a marching band started practising, drowning out Bradley
When asked how he was celebrating his birthday in lockdown, Bradley said his wife Donna and son Barney will be sharing a nice tea together.
But the interview was then briefly interrupted by a band rehearsing outside, drowning him out and leaving Holly and Phil in stitches.
The This Morning hosts then revealed they had bought Bradley a large case of Wine Gums.
Reflective: The star was speaking ahead of a 60th birthday tribute special dedicate to him on ITV on Wednesday evening
Natural entertainer: Bradley has spent four decades in showbusiness and presented You Must Be Joking in 1989 (pictured)
Phillip then joked: ‘You might think Bradley “oh they haven’t paid for those, they’ve gone to Maynards”.
‘Well we went to Maynards and they said “no we don’t do that sort of thing”, so we went out and bought them ourselves, so that’s out of our own money!’
Bradley replied: ‘Next time you see me in real life, I’ve actually put a stone on, so I hope someone comes on.
‘I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been.’
Bradley Walsh: Happy 60th Birthday airs tonight at 9pm on ITV
Thoughtful friends: The daytime presenters bought Bradley a large box of Wine Gums for his birthday