George Gilbey’s mum breaks silence after son’s death

Heartbreaking.

Ricci Guarnaccio, who broke the news of George's death on Wednesday, said that he had spoken with Linda who told him she had been inundated with messages of condolences in the days following her son's sudden passing.

Ricci told the Mirror: "I'm broken, just devastated. I’ve just got off the phone to Lin[da] and we had a laugh and a cry and went through every emotion. She wants to send a thank you to everyone who has sent their condolences and shared their happy memories of George."

Ricci continued: "It’s tough for her. To lose Pete [Linda's husband and George's stepdad] then her 40-year-old son… a rollercoaster of emotions. But she wants George to be remembered in a nice way. He was found in a pub and shot to fame in Gogglebox - he was one of the ogs.

"Then he went into the Big Brother house alongside myself and we all just clicked. He got on with everyone. I remember him walking around [the house] and he was saying ‘what the f*** am I doing in here with all you?’.

"He was a ball of light. Obviously, we were a similar age and lads so we we spent a lot of time together when we left the house."

It was announced on Wednesday that the 40-year-old died following an accident at work. He was a self-employed electrician.

Following the news of his death, police issued a statement.

"We received a report of an incident at Campfield Road in Shoebury at around 10am this morning (27 March), during which a man who was working at height had fallen and sustained an injury," Essex Police said.

"The ambulance service including air ambulance were in attendance. Sadly, the man died at the scene. We will continue liaising with partners including the Health and Safety Executive. A cordon remains in place at the scene.."

The latest update, though, comes as a man has been arrested in connection with the accident, which occurred at EGL Homecare, a manufacturing company.

Essex Police said that a man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

"This is a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive and our inquiries are ongoing," a spokesperson said.

George was best known for his appearances on Gogglebox with his mum and step-dad.

He became an instant favourite after joining the Channel 4 show in its second series back in 2013.

While the family came off the show in 2014, George entered Celebrity Big Brother the same year and made it all the way to the final.

George returned to Gogglebox in 2016 along with Linda and Pete McGarry to the delight of viewers across the world.

Sadly, George's step-dad Pete died suddenly in 2021 aged 71 mere days after being told he had months to live.

Linda said that her son was "really cut up" by his death.

She said: “Pete was a lovely man and I was so lucky to have him for 25 years. I said to him, ‘We’ve not only been 25 years, it’s been day and night with each other. He was my life.

“I have a message from a young lad I know who said, ‘Ordinary people won’t be remembered, but we’ll remember Pete forever - like the pyramids.' I thought that was beautiful. He was so proud of George when he was in Big Brother too. Him and George really loved each other. George is really cut up."