Judith Chalmers, host of ITV’s Wish You Were Here…? dies aged 90

TV presenter who became a household name for her sunny broadcasts from holiday destinations in ITV’s Wish You Were HereLong before people scanned Tripadvisor or started booking their own holidays, they looked to TV travel shows to tell them where to go, and foremost among these was Wish You Were Here …?, fronted by Judith Chalmers. A triumph of middlebrow escapism, the show ran on ITV for nearly 30 years, from the early 1970s to the early 2000s.Chalmers, who has died aged 90, was the welcoming, lightly glamorous face of Wish You Were Here, on which she was part champion of “abroad” and part consumer watchdog, balancing those roles with a warmth that made her one of the most admired and accomplished broadcasters of her generation. In many years’ worth of globetrotting – from African safaris to US theme parks to funiculars in the Alps – she never lost her poise. TV travel royalty was how she was widely regarded. Continue reading...

Family says host of more than 500 episodes of travel show leaves behind ‘giant suitcase of the happiest memories’The TV presenter Judith Chalmers, who spent almost three decades persuading British people to go on holiday as the host of Wish You Were Here … ?, has died at the age of 90 after living with Alzheimer’s in her final years.Her family said she died peacefully at home on Thursday, surrounded by “the family she loved so much”, after becoming ill in recent weeks. They added that she would be greatly missed but left behind “a giant suitcase of the happiest memories”. Continue reading...

Chalmers presented radio programmes such as Woman’s Hour and Family Favourites in the 1960s.

Judith Chalmers during a TV appearance in 2017TV personality Judith Chalmers has died at the age of 90.Judith is best known for fronting the ITV travel series Wish You Were Here…?, which she did for almost 30 years between 1974 and 2003, as well as the Strictly Come Dancing predecessor Come Dancing.On Friday morning, her family issued a statement disclosing that the presenter had died the previous day, surrounded by her loved ones, having been privately living with Alzheimer’s disease for a number of years.They told ITV News: “After living an extraordinary life that involved over 60 years in broadcasting and countless adventures all over the globe, Judy sadly passed away last night, surrounded by the family she loved so much after suffering with Alzheimer’s for some years.“We will miss her greatly but she leaves behind a giant suitcase of the happiest of memories.”Judith began broadcasting when she was still just 13 years old, after being chosen to present BBC North’s Children’s Hour segment.As her presenting career continued, she went on to front Family Favourites and Woman’s Hour for the BBC in the 1960s, as well as appearing on Ken Dodd’s radio show, the comedy series The Clitheroe Kid, and Come Dancing, which she hosted for around four years.Judith Chalmers pictured in 1974In the following decade, she began presenting Wish You Were Here…? and the ITV daytime series Good Afternoon. Her later TV and radio appearances included coverage of Miss World and various other beauty pageants, Radio 2’s daily mid-morning show and, more recently, the Channel 5 travel show Celebrity Taste Of Italy.Judith was awarded an OBE by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 for her services to broadcasting.She is survived by her husband of more than 60 years, the former sports commentator Neil Durden-Smith, as well as their two children and six grandchildren.

She was best known for hosting ITV's long-running travel show Wish You Were Here...?

Television presenter Judith Chalmers has died.