https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/keam/5101504

Unfortunately, Farmer Clive, one of Deal's best ever characters, unfortunately passed away earlier this year!

Definitely in my top 5 favourite contestants. RIP :-(

I discovered recently that Flash (2006) passed away in early 2020, she was only in her 40s I think though clearly had some health issues/disabilities.

Her Reddit AMA about being a DOND contestant is an interesting read, she also posted on here around the time she appeared.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ ... r_no_deal/

Wow, that's the first one to really hit me. How sad.

That surprised and saddened me. She contributed frequently to this forum, years after the fact too. RIP :/

That is so sad I really liked Flash

Nice to see you here. Not sure we've interacted before but you added a *lot* of character to the forum.

Well, she posted twice in 2009, all her other posts were around/just after she played…

She was clearly very active on social media and a quirky character with a lot of diverse interests. Her personal website is still up and linked from her profile on here.

Always sad to hear of ex-contestants passing away.

I don't think it's already been mentioned on the forum that Mavis, who was on the wings at the same time as me, passed away a couple of years ago.

I guess when you think about it, the majority of older contestants (i.e. 70+ at the time) who played in the early years of DoND are probably no longer around, along with a fair few others. I mean, over 3,000 people have played this show and it started not far off two decades ago.

I was just thinking that, so many random old ladies I idolised in my youth no longer with us

One or two of them might be getting their telegram (do they still call it that?) from the King, though…

Wasn't one of them practically a centenarian already when they played?

Joe was 97 when he played his game which was aired in April 2009. Apparently he died in November 2014, having turned 103 just a few weeks before.

I did think it might've been him! Well, there's one member of the Telegram Club, anyway...

We know about what happened to Frank in 2010, but I still wonder about what became of the other fragile old contestants like Clive from 05, Audrey from early 06 and Mike from October 2010 who had to leave because of their health and were never seen again

I'm also curious about Mandy who did a handful of shows in early 2015 and vanished. Given the timing, I wouldn't be surprised she didn't return because the final studio episodes were in the can before she was well enough to come back......

By way of an update on the whereabouts of ex-contestants;

I've searched the GRO (General Register Office) indexes, and Joseph (Joseph Walvish) who played in September 2006 appears to have died in late 2007. Having just watched his show back, he seemed a lovely person and very intriguing too, I'd have loved to quiz him on what life was like in the 1920s and '30s in the East End of London. Glad he got another year to enjoy his winnings!

Brian Major who played 15/12/06 passed away in July 2023, and Gabrielle Hawksworth from a month later passed in April-May 2020. Both were in their 90s so had a pretty incredible run.

I think as some of us look again at the earlier contestants it's inevitable plenty of them won't be here any more! Yeah, in today's world I'd say making it to 90 or above is a Power 5 win all day long.

I'm watching John's game from 3 December 2005 - John Long from Greenwich, late of Cork. A John Long died in Greenwich in late 2007 aged 54 or 55, and while there might've been a few of them in the area, the one who played fit the age bracket very well, sadly.

I couldn't be sure, but Trevor Bruce, who is often mentioned here in comments and reminiscences, said at the beginning of his show he was from Sheffield and used to work for newspapers in the city; if there was no further change to that situation, he appears to have passed away in November 2019, aged 81.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/le ... d=45563489