Fans of BBC's Gone Fishing were devastated last month when one of the beloved stars of the show, Ted the Patterdale Terrier mix dog, sadly passed away. Show hosts Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse shared touching tributes to their furry friend following the heartbreaking news. Bob wrote: "So very, very sad. Lovely Ted, the best companion and the greatest little chum. Going to miss him so much... and away, boss." Meanwhile, Paul added, "Bye-bye, Ted, old friend. He wasn't a dog; he was a species all of his own. He's gone to the great briefcase emporium in the sky. We will really miss you, mate."]

While it is the first death to hit the show, which first premiered on BBC Two in June 2018, it isn't the first tragedy. Both Bob and Paul have been very vocal about serious health issues which have plagued them, with Bob recently sharing a heartbreaking death admission. The star, who won the first season of Amazon's Last One Laughing has suffered a number of health issues and confessed that he is not afraid of his life coming to an end.

The 66-year-old revealed what he experienced when his heart stopped beating for a remarkable 32 minutes back in 2015. He underwent life-saving surgery after developing serious heart complications, with doctors finding that 95% of his arteries were blocked. He had a triple bypass to address the problem, during which he had a brush with death that he claimed entirely transformed his outlook on life.

He said he "no longer fears death" as a result of all he has been through whilst appearing on Kathy Burke's Where There's A Will, There's A Wake podcast. He said: "I did see the light at the end of the tunnel. I experienced going towards the light and feeling happier than I have ever felt, ever.

"It was quite extraordinary, and then I woke up a day later, and I was OK. I thought, 'This is great. I no longer fear death and everything." Reflecting on how his views on facing his maker had shifted, Bob added: "I don't feel scared about death, I just feel so frustrated and sad to think I won't see how stories end. My children's story. My wife's. The football. All the stories going on in the world that you're going to miss the end of."

The comedian has also been refreshingly open with fans about his other health battles, including his struggle with rheumatoid arthritis and has confessed that shingles left him confined to a wheelchair. During an appearance on This Morning he admitted at one point he couldn't stand up while filming. "On one of the shows, when we were on the river, I was in a wheelchair; they didn't show it on camera, but I was carried down and plonked on the riverbank with a rug. You wouldn't know, you'd just notice I was always sat down."

Paul has also had his fair share of health scares. In 2021, the 68-year-old told Saga Magazine about an invasive heart operation saying: "In many ways I was lucky." Having had three stents inserted to help widen his coronary arteries, the actor, writer, and producer has had a change of priorities.

"When I had the heart stents, the guy who did it said, 'Well, I didn't put them in for you to go and sit by the fire, so get up and go out,'" he said.

"I took him at his word, so I do a lot of exercise to keep myself ticking over." The 64-year-old said he "owes it to heart disease" for becoming "more selfish about [his] time".

"I say to people, 'Don't even think about contacting me at this time because I will be doing my exercise that I need to do in order for me to be able to function, to talk to you.'"The multi-talented creator added: "You can't look after anyone else if you don't look after yourself.