British journalist and television presenter John Stapleton died at the age of 79 on Sunday, September 21, 2025. His death was in a hospital and was a result of pneumonia, which was a complication of his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.
Stapleton had a career that spanned five decades, working for both the BBC and ITV. He was well-known for presenting on shows like Watchdog, which he co-presented with his wife, and was a recognisable face on breakfast television for over 30 years.
From 1986 to 1993, he co-presented the consumer rights show with his wife, Lynn Faulds Wood. They worked on successful campaigns to abolish air fuel surcharges and vaccinate babies against Hib meningitis.
He was a popular face on various breakfast TV shows, including the BBC’s Breakfast Time, TV-am’s Good Morning Britain, and ITV’s GMTV and Daybreak.
Lynn Faulds Wood, the wife of John Stapleton, died in 2020 at the age of 72 after suffering a stroke. The couple had one son, Nick Stapleton, who is also a documentary journalist and works as a co-presenter on the BBC series Scam Interceptors.
In October 2024, John Stapleton revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He was pragmatic about his diagnosis, stating, “There’s no point in being miserable It won’t ever change. I mean, Parkinson’s is here with me now for the rest of my life. Best I can do is try and control it and take the advice of all experts.”
His son, Nick, shared on Instagram that his father had not been happy living with the disease and that he “got what he wanted… to leave us on his terms, without suffering. Living independently and still doing the things he loved until almost the very end.”
Nicholas Stapleton is the son of John Stapleton.