Beloved BBC star d!es aged just 52 after heartbreaking health battle
Emma Britton, the beloved breakfast show host on BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio Somerset, has sadly died after her terminal cancer diagnosis
Emma Britton worked for two BBC radio stations(Image: georgeclerk via Getty Images)
A beloved BBC presenter has sadly died aged just 52. Emma Britton, most recognised for presenting the morning shows on BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio Somerset, died following her diagnosis with terminal stage four lung cancer in April 2025.
Her relatives honoured her, revealing Emma was “so grateful for the love and care shown to her in recent months”.
They said: “We are also, as you would expect, going to commemorate and celebrate her life in exactly the way she wanted. And with the grace and love she showed so many families in the same situation we find ourselves now. It’s hard to comprehend just how many people she has helped so profoundly over the years.”
Emma’s BBC workmates also offered their condolences, with Gareth Roberts, executive editor of both stations, describing Emma as a “genuine, warm presenter” who was an “amazing colleague and a great friend to many”.
Emma Britton passed away aged 52(Image: BBC)
He added: “Emma was quite simply the best of BBC local radio.
“A genuine, warm presenter who not only lived here in the West but who really cared about the communities in Somerset and Bristol with a passion that leaped out of the radio.”,
Stephanie Marshall, Head of BBC West, added: “Emma was Mrs Bridgwater, always doing her hometown and Somerset proud.
“She will be painfully missed but completely unforgettable, and the world while poorer without her, we are far better off for her having been in it, if only it could have been for a bit longer.” Emma became part of BBC Somerset back in 2007, before assuming control of the breakfast programme in 2013. She subsequently transferred to Radio Bristol in 2016, where she presented for five years.
In February 2026, she collected over £11,000 for ALK Positive UK, a charity which she said “saved my life from falling apart”.
She added: “In the weeks following my diagnosis I was in a pretty dark place.
“The charity has given me and my husband John support, advice, solidarity, information, education, friendship and above all they give us hope.”
