Gogglebox stars in tears as they discover news of Prince Philip’s death: ‘Reminds me of my grandfather’

Several of the stars of Channel 4’s Gogglebox were left in tears as they watched the news broadcast announcing the death of Prince Philip, expressing their sympathy for the Queen over her loss.

On Friday April 9, the royal family announced that Queen Elizabeth II’s husband of over 70 years, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, had died at the age of 99.

ITV’s This Morning was cut short as Eamonn Holmes told viewers that ITV News had an important announcement to make, while the BBC cleared its schedule of non-news-related programming, which was replaced by a special broadcast.

While last week’s Gogglebox was aired as originally scheduled at 9pm, the programme began with a brief mention of Prince Philip’s death in the voiceover, stating: ‘In the week we bid farewell to His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, we enjoyed lots of great telly.’

On the latest episode of the show, the cast reacted to the news of the royal’s death, with several of them breaking down in tears over the news.

‘I don’t know what to say. I think it’s the first time I’ve been lost for words,’ Jenny Newby said.

‘I’ll let you off this time. You can cry,’ Lee Riley said, as Jenny took off her glasses and wiped away her tears.

‘Just reminds me of my grandfather,’ Shirley Griffiths said, becoming choked up.

Mary Killen also became emotional, stating: ‘She vowed that she would serve her people all her life, and that’s all she’s done. And he helped her.’

As Mary started to cheer up, Giles Wood extended a comforting hand, saying: ‘Steady nutty.’

Stephen Webb also shared his sympathies towards the monarch, saying: ‘Oh the poor Queen.’

‘I bet she’s absolutely heartbroken,’ Sally Hayward said.

After last week’s episode of Gogglebox aired despite the announcement of Prince Philip’s death, Channel 4 explained why it chose to resume its schedule.

‘Like many people around the UK and the world we were saddened to hear of the death of His Royal Highness, Prince Philip,’ the channel said in a statement shared with Metro.co.uk.

‘We moved swiftly to a live news special as the news was announced earlier today; we broadcast a special programme looking back at the life of the Duke of Edinburgh at 4pm this afternoon; and we will broadcast a 90-minute extended Channel 4 News special from 7pm this evening.

‘We will also be airing a number of documentaries about the life of Prince Philip and extended news bulletins over the weekend.

‘As an alternative public service broadcaster Channel 4 also has a duty to offer an alternative to others and, whilst we have marked this sad news appropriately in our schedules and on All 4, we will also continue to offer viewers the majority of our usual peak time schedule including Gogglebox and The Circle tonight.’

Gogglebox returns on Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.

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