Gyles Brandreth Rodd Hull death: This Morning presenter reveals he blames himself for Rodd Hull death

This Morning presenter Gyles Brandreth has said that he blames himself for the death of comedian Rod Hull, who was best known for entertaining viewers with his Emu puppet. Hull died in 1999 when he fell from the roof of his home while attempting to adjust his TV aerial, the 63-year-old comedian was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital with his passing being ruled an accidental death.

Hull and his puppet Emu first found fame in Australia, before moving back to the UK. The pair were well-known in the 1970s and 1980s, with shows on BBC, ITV and CITV. Emu is most famous for pecking the presenter Michael Parkinson.

Brandreth has opened up about what happened that day in an interview with John Cleese for the latest episode of his podcast Rosebud, explaining he felt he had “encouraged” Hull to go onto the roof. The This Morning presenter told him: "I killed a man - it was Rod Hull, the emu man."

He continued: "He was sitting next to me, and he was complaining all through the show - he was interrupting the show almost - going on about how he wanted to get home because he wanted to watch the football, but his Sky aerial wasn't transmitting properly. And I said, 'Don't moan about it, if you want to watch the television get a ladder out, climb on to the roof, and fix it Rod'."

He went on to describe the accident, explaining: "And after the show, in this stormy weather, he went home, he got out a ladder, he climbed the ladder, and he tried to fix the aerial. Unfortunately, the wind was very great, and he fell backwards off the ladder and killed himself."

Join the thousands of people who’ve signed up for a National World newsletter Brandreth wasn't present at the time of the accident, but he explained that he felt he had “encouraged” the comedian to climb on the roof. He also revealed that Hull surprised funeral goers with his famous puppet, Emu.

He said: "It was a great funeral though because at his funeral the coffin came in, and as the coffin was being carried in, it was a sort of [knock, knock, knock]. He'd arranged a beak sound to be inside the coffin as though the emu was also in the coffin."

Sarah McCann is a Trends Writer for NationalWorld who specialises in stories around TV, Film and Health. If you liked this article you can follow Sarah on X (Twitter) here. You can also share your thoughts in the comment section below.