Ann Widdecombe missed TV interview day before her death
Ann Widdecombe had been due to appear on Channel 5 the day before her death but suddenly stopped responding to messages and failed to show up.
Concerns were raised for Ann Widdecombe after she failed to turn up for a TV appearance the day before her death.
The former MP and Strictly Come Dancing star was found dead at her home in Haytor, Dartmoor on Thursday (09.07.26), after sustaining “serious injuries”, prompting the launch of a murder investigation, and it has now emerged she was due to appear on Channel 5 on Wednesday (08.07.26) but was a no-show.
Dan Walker, 5 News presenter, wrote on his Facebook page: "Really sad news about Ann Widdecombe. Horrible to think about what she went through.
"To clarify something we said on the programme tonight…
"Ann was due to appear on 5 Daytime on Wednesday afternoon but stopped responding to messages and didn't turn up for the show.
"The team contacted her agent to ask them to check in on her.
"This information has been passed to police as it's part of the investigation."
According to ITV News Ann was supposed to speak via video call on the Matt Allwright show and had spoken to a researcher earlier in the day to set up the interview. After the call, the researcher exchanged messages with the ex-politician, with the last received at 12:19pm. The member of staff then messaged again at 12:48pm asking Ann to join the Zoom link for the interview, but she failed to respond to that or subsequent calls or messages.
Police arrested a 26-year-old man on Friday (10.07.26), whose name has yet to be made public, but he was released on Saturday (11.07.26) and is no longer under investigation.
Devon and Cornwall Police announced the news and said the investigation is "moving at a significant pace" and they are "deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened".
Officers are said to be reviewing CCTV footage from Ann's home to look for clues, and there is a large police presence still in the local area.
Ann's nephew, Roger Widdecombe has thanked the public for their support in the wake of the tragedy.
He said: “My thanks go to everybody who has sent messages of condolences.
“But we are not going to say anything further at this stage. Thank you.”
Although best known as a politician, Ann became an even bigger household name during her Strictly stint in 2010, when she was paired with Anton Du Beke.
Despite regularly scoring low marks with the judges, the pair managed to reach Week 10 before they were eliminated, and returned for the Strictly Christmas special in 2018.
She also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018, finishing runner-up to winner Courtney Act in series 21.
