Blue Peter hero John Noakes dies aged 83

DAREDEVIL, action man, one of the greatest presenters in BBC history.

The tributes keep rolling in for John Noakes, the former Blue Peter presenter, who has died aged 83. Close family revealed that Noakes, who lived in Andratx, Mallorca with his wife Vicky, passed away in his sleep on Sunday.

The charismatic West Yorkshire man, often pictured with border collie Shep, joined Blue Peter as the children’s show’s third presenter in 1965. A memorable 12 years at the helm during a golden age for British television saw him break the 25,000 foot British parajumping record and shimmy up Nelson’s Column without a harness.

His relationship with Shep was so interwoven with his TV personality that the Barron Knights released a 1978 song dedicated to the dog, and people stopped him on the street to ask after Shep, long after his death in 1986.

After leaving the show Noakes and Vicky set sail for the Caribbean in search of a new life. A freak 60 foot waves almost killed them and instead they wound up in Mallorca, where Noakes spent decades before his death.

Noakes suffered from Alzheimers in his later years and, in 2015, sparked a scare when he went missing from his Andratx home while out for a walk in scorching 35 degree heat.