This Morning's Gyles Brandreth makes shocking Rod Hull death confession: "I killed a man"

3 May 2024, 15:28

The 76-year-old presenter made the extraordinary claim live on This Morning 25 years after the entertainer's death.

Gyles Brandreth has revealed he 'blames himself' for the death of Rod Hull, stating he 'killed a man'.

The shocking moment saw the This Morning presenter recall the night Rod died in 1999, and the guilt he has felt for the past 25 years.

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Rod Hull, who was famous for his Emu attacks on Michael Parkinson's talk show in the 1980s, died tragically after he fell from the roof of his house after climbing up to fix his TV aerial.

The entertainer suffered a severe skull fracture and chest injuries and was pronounced dead upon arrival in hospital.

Gyles has now revealed that Rod had been complaining 'for days' about his TV connection, before he 'encouraged' his friend to 'get a ladder' and 'go on the roof'.

Speaking on his Rosebud Podcast, Gyles said: "I killed a man - it was Rod Hull, the emu man.

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"We were at the theatre, we were at the first night of Animal Crackers - it was a show about the Marx brothers.

"Terrible, terrible weather that night. And he was sitting next to me, and he was complaining all through the show - 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'.

"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.

"So I wasn't actually there, but I'd encouraged him."

After Hull died aged 63, an inquest declared his death was accidental.

Royalist emu confronts Sir Michael Parkinson

Speaking about the star's funeral, the friend of the royals recalled how Rod made sure to include his emu in his funeral plans, surprising mourners with a 'knocking sound' coming from his coffin.

"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 [constant tapping sound]," Gyles said.

"He'd arranged a beak sound to be inside the coffin as though the emu was also in the coffin."