Andy Kershaw sadly passed away at the age of sixty-six. I listened to him a lot when he was hosting his world music show and I loved it when he was working at the BBC as a presenter, he always came across as a very down to earth person with a few flaws occasionally and obviously he had issues that affected a lot of people. He also comes across as a pretty caring guy (who truly knows what everyone is thinking deep down) who is willing to put himself in harm's way to cover stories about human injustice and suffering.
I'm pretty sure I read the article attached below when The Independent first published it in 2008, and I was devastated because of the severe mental health and alcohol problems that resulted from his horrific split from Juliette Banner, his partner of seventeen years and mother of his two children. I feel bad for Juliet Banner too, I'm sure that was a terrible situation. Kershaw became a bitch for having an affair and he embraced it, but he's human and if we all had the Daily Mail's approach the countryside would be littered with bodies hanging from gallows. Did he deserve the intrusive media coverage of his relationship breakdown and subsequent troubles, I'm not sure he deserved it, it was just mind-blowing sensationalism that should have been kept secret, not much of a story unless you like celebrity gossip?
When a long-term relationship breaks down, it's easy for both parties to become unhappy. I'm sure this happens all the time and everywhere; even the most ordinary people can become messed up, do things that are out of character, and do things that they regret. There are usually two sides to a relationship breakdown that people know nothing about, and tossing someone into the garbage heap of life because they screwed up is pretty short-sighted and lacking in empathy.
So, what am I going to say? How does it relate to rock climbing? Nothing special, except that someone recently highlighted on a UKC forum that Andy Kershaw had died, and in response, another person said something (shown in bold below) that flipped a switch for me. I know this is my problem. I'm not really sure why I go to all this trouble, given the pervasive consequences of writing something like this, but it makes me feel a little better about trying to right a wrong for someone who can't defend himself.
Here is the link to the thread, with the comments in bold below.
https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/off_belay/andy_kershaw_rip-789675
Unfortunately, behind his broadcasting abilities, there was a very dark personal side that led to his imprisonment. Maybe give it a thought?
This is a serious crime involving abuse.
No doubt you will condemn the likes of Epstein and others, but good old Andy is a top guy. Let's take a break.
I don't often feel the need to comment on forums because I feel like they are like the wild west. People (not all, but enough!) hide behind pseudonyms and fictitious identities. They love to play pranks and annoy others, and many topics end in arguments. But this guy talking about Andy Kershaw bothers me because I feel like it's a great example of people making stuff up on forums and social media (intentionally or not) and then in some form of righteous aggression, putting it out there as truth when it's not and it's just intolerant and small-minded garbage.
Kershaw apparently suffered severely from mental health issues resulting from being separated from his loved ones and not being allowed to see his children. Could this be classed as the very dark side? And then saying he's in jail without really saying what he's in jail for is unsubstantiated gossip, Trumpers made up garbage, it's hinting at something without actually giving us evidence or even the real truth. It’s this kind of ignorant, unsubstantiated nonsense that is the bane of the internet. It's this kind of nasty stuff that makes forums and social media a cesspool and takes away the good they can bring, although I admit, I firmly believe they bring far more bad than good, and the world was a better place before they existed. All I can say is that the poster better start staying indoors and locking the doors because there are hundreds of people going through similar experiences to Kershaw; that doesn't make them monsters, or inherently bad people, in many cases they are just regular people who can't cope and need help.
Comparing him to Epstein is absolutely ridiculous, dirty, and probably defamatory. I'm guessing the person who wrote these comments is a Daily Mail reader who threw away his keys, because as the Guardian article about his death says, once he got over the devastating breakup and not being allowed to see his children, he went back to work and was never arrested or in trouble with the law again, so, in other words, he made a full recovery and became a normal, normal member of society. In my opinion, this shows strength and courage, and is a success story that deserves to be viewed with optimism rather than ruthless right-wing blinders.
For anyone interested in the true story of how an imperfect but not-so-bad person's life fell apart, here's a link to the Independent article. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/andy-kershaw-the-year-my-lifefall-apart-917948.html
Here’s what Kershaw had to say about his cancer diagnosis, from The Guardian,
Earlier this year, he revealed his cancer diagnosis in a statement, saying he was in “good spirits” and joking that he was “determined not to die before Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Ant'n'Dec. That should keep me going for a while.”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/apr/17/bbc-radio-dj-andy-kershaw-dies-ged-66
Andy Kershaw was no Nelson Mandela, but overall he was a very caring man who overcame his shortcomings and went on to live his life without anything like the horrible things he had experienced before and regretted.
Anyway, I'm sorry, my writing quickly went out of shape again, I will work harder in the future.
