British actress Lynda Bellingham's co-stars on Loose Women paid tearful tribute to her on the TV show only hours after her death was announced.
The star, best known for her long-running role as the mother in the Oxo TV adverts, had colon cancer, which later spread to her lungs and liver, and died yesterday aged 66.
Today's show began with tributes to the star and her co-host Coleen Nolan said: "It's so hard not to be sad and the only thing I think will get me through the day is I can almost feel her behind me whacking me, saying 'get on with it'."
The ITV show heard from an emotional Christopher Biggins who said the news was "unbelievable".
He said: "I will remember the laughter, the joy of being with her".
They also heard from Jane McDonald, who appeared on the panel show with her, who praised her widower Michael.
She told the show he had "been unbelievable throughout this whole experience, he has been a rock".
Speaking about her former co-star, she said: "She would be mortified if we were all sad and weeping and wailing because Lynda was the fun, fabulous amazing person."
Bellingham, who was diagnosed with cancer last July, said she decided to end her treatment on August 13 to limit the amount of suffering her family would witness.
In a statement on their behalf, her agent Sue Latimer said: "Lynda died peacefully in her husband's arms yesterday evening at a London hospital. Her family, to whom she was devoted, would like to thank the nurses and staff for their tremendous care and support.
"As an actor, writer and presenter, Lynda was a consummate professional to the very end.
"Those of us privileged to have known her personally will miss the entertaining, life-enhancing, true and honest friend that blessed our lives."
Bellingham's acting career included the title role in sitcom Faith In The Future and regular stage roles.
She filmed a special farewell episode of Loose Women, which will air on Wednesday, in which she received a standing ovation.
Kaye Adams, who also worked on the programme, said Bellingham was "an incredibly courageous person".
She told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "She just had such an energy and a dynamism and you were just always pleased to see her and always felt she was pleased to see you, which is a fabulous thing to be able to do.
"She always left you feeling better about life."
"I think a lot of people will be thinking of her so fondly this morning and thinking 'God, Lynda, you are incredible'."
Bellingham was asked recently how she would like to be remembered and said she wanted to be thought of as an honest person.
Ms Adams said: "That's one of the many ways that she will be remembered - honest, generous, kind, courageous, intelligent, thoughtful, all of those things."
Bellingham's decision to end her treatment was revealed in a newspaper serialisation of her forthcoming autobiography.
She had said she hoped to see one last Christmas.
Bellingham said: "The decision to give up chemo was a huge relief because I took back some control of myself. It's there on the table if I want it.
"I don't want the boys or my husband to see me die a little sad old lady. I want to go out there as I am."
She said she wanted her autobiography to be "uplifting", adding: "I wrote the book for everybody out there.
"It's not supposed to be an embarrassing account of me having terminal cancer.
"I wanted to write it for everybody who is given that curveball and say of course there are no answers but, if you can, take it and make it positive and talk about dying.
"If two people read this book and think 'Actually, that's how I feel and I'm not on my own', then I'll have done something half-decent."
Her death came just ten days after the publication of her memoir.
Bellingham was awarded an OBE in the British New Year honours list for her charity work.
The mother-of-two appeared as the mother in a squabbling family in the Oxo adverts since the 1980s.
Bellingham, whose sister Barbara died from lung cancer, had been a high-profile supporter of Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support.
The actress, who was adopted, published a best-selling memoir, Lost And Found, which dealt with her search for her birth mother.
She also wrote a novel, Tell Me Tomorrow, which was published last year.
Bellingham married her third husband, property developer Michael Pattemore, on her 60th birthday.
Her Loose Women co-presenter Nadia Sawalha, who also appeared with her in the Oxo adverts, paid tribute to a "brilliant actress".
She told ITV show Lorraine: "We're just all heartbroken because her real, her last wish was that she would spend this Christmas with her family.
"Anyone that knew Lynda and knew her well, knew that she was this absolute live wire. She would come into a room and light the place up. Everybody loved her."
She said Bellingham told her fellow Loose Women panellists: "'Please, when I'm gone, have a big party for me and have a dance' and that's Lynda through and through."
Loose Women issued a statement on its Twitter feed, saying: "Our thoughts go to #lyndabellingham's family at this incredibly sad time and to all those whose lives she touched so deeply, as she did ours."
