Richard E Grant reveals wife died of lung cancer – eight months after stage four diagnosis
Richard E Grant’s wife Joan Washington was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer eight months before her death, the actor has revealed.
The 64-year-old, known for films including Withnail and I and The Age of Innocence, announced Washington had died last week.
Writing in the Daily Mail about their life together, Grant said: “It’s an extraordinary phenomenon to be truly ‘seen’ and ‘known’ by another human, and in Joan, I found someone who innately did both.
They married in 1986 after meeting four years before. Pic: Jon Furniss/Invision/AP
“To have loved one another for almost four decades has been the ride of my lifetime.”
On 3 September he revealed his wife’s death, sharing a video of the pair dancing together to the song Only You.
They married in 1986 and share a daughter, Olivia, and a stepson, Tom, from Washington’s previous relationship.
He said: “Since her stage four lung cancer diagnosis two days before Christmas, she was accepting, clear sighted, sanguine and totally without self pity.”
He praised the oncology team at the Royal Marsden Hospital, NHS nurses, Price’s Mill Surgery and Longfield palliative carers from their “beyond exemplary” work.
He continued: “It’s been my privilege to be by your side, sharing our last eight months together, enabling us to say everything we possibly wanted and needed to, so that when you asked Olivia and me two weeks ago ‘to let me go’, we unequivocally said ‘yes’.”
He revealed the Prince of Wales had visited Washington, who he affectionately referred to as The Colonel, shortly before she died.
He said: “Prince Charles came to see ‘The Colonel’ last month, sat beside her, took her hand and said, ‘It’s been an absolute honour to have known you, Joan’ to which she instantly quipped, ‘I’m still here.’ Which broke the ice and made all three of us cackle.
“Astonishingly, unlike me, she’s never been star struck and possessed the innate gift of speaking to everyone of any age or status as her equal.”
The couple met when Washington agreed to give Grant private voice lessons in 1982.
The following January, she asked him to dinner in exchange for putting a script on tape for an RSC production she was voice coaching on.
Grant wrote: “Joan and I continued eating and yakking and I somehow managed to miss the midnight Tube back to my bedsit in Notting Hill from Richmond and so began our conversation which continued and lasted 38 years long, finally ending at 7.30 last Thursday evening, holding each other’s hands, telling her how much I loved her.
“Unaware that her next inhalation would be her earthly last.”
He added: “Our loss is incalculable. Your love is immeasurable.
“The depth of our grief is mirrored by the magnitude of our love.
“Goodbye Monkee-mine.
“Do not forget us.”
Entertainment
MasterChef presenter John Torode says allegation he used racist language upheld in report
Entertainment
Gregg Wallace: Over half of allegations against MasterChef presenter substantiated, including one of unwanted physical contact
An investigation into Gregg Wallace’s “inappropriate behaviour” on MasterChef has found that more than half of the allegations against him have been substantiated, including one of “unwanted physical contact”.
MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK shared a summary of its report into historical allegations of misconduct against the 60-year-old presenter, carried out by independent law firm Lewis Silkin over seven months.
The report also said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef “untenable”.
The investigation heard evidence from 78 witnesses, including 41 complainants.
There were 83 allegations against Wallace, and 45 of them were substantiated. All were related to MasterChef.
While the majority of the substantiated allegations related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated.
One allegation of unwanted physical contact was substantiated.
Nearly all the allegations against Wallace were related to behaviour which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2018, with just one substantiated allegation taking place post-2018.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014
Ahead of the publication of the summary, Wallace had said he had been “cleared of the most serious and sensational accusations” made against him.
Additionally, the report summary found that there were also 10 standalone allegations about other people between 2012 and 2018/2019, two of which were substantiated. Those people were not named in the summary.
The investigation found that complaints had previously been raised with the production company between 2005 and 2024.
Gregg Wallace on MasterChef. Pic: BBC/ Shine TV 2024
While the report flagged inadequate reporting procedures prior to 2016, when Endemol merged with Shine ahead of Banijay acquiring Endemol Shine in 2020, it said there were significant improvements to HR processes and training after 2016.
While the investigation said some formal action was taken by the BBC in 2017, it also noted the corporation held no information regarding concerns raised over Wallace centrally, resulting in issues being addressed as a first offence.
Sky News has tried to contact Gregg Wallace for contact today.
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