Michael Mosley has received a touching tribute — from a couple who credit him for transforming their health.
The TV doctor, 67, was found dead on the Greek island of Symi last week after suffering suspected heatstroke. And now Ambrose King and Ricardo Nunez — who appeared on Michael’s Channel 4 show Secrets of Your Big Shop — have shared a heartfelt message for the star, saying: “You changed our lives.”
The pair, from Sheffield, were cherry-picked to appear in the series and immediately hit it off with the health guru. Ambrose, 46, said: “We’d both been told for the last 10 years that we needed to lose weight and get healthier, but it wasn’t until meeting Michael that we actually took the advice on board and decided to change.
“Michael was not only a genuinely lovely, personable guy, he changed every aspect of our lives for the better."
Michael Mosley - body found
The duo, from Sheffield, signed up for the show as a last-ditch attempt to get their high blood pressure under control. And Ambrose, who also has kidney failure, hoped to find a long-term solution for his symptoms.
They say working with Michael exceeded all their expectations. Ambrose added: “It sounds dramatic but he transformed the way we live — we were both on large doses of blood pressure medication before starting the show and our levels are now back to normal and our doses have been halved.
“Ricardo struggled with sleep and would often wake up with a pounding heart, but that’s now also completely transformed. It wasn't about weight loss - it was about reducing our medication and changing the way that we shop, which in turn has made us a healthier family."
Michael Mosley disappearance timeline
Wednesday, June 4: Police alerted to missing doc six hours after he left
Dr Mosley left his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, on St Nikolas beach at around 1.30pm on Wednesday. He is believed to have set off on a popular coasting walking route towards the small village of Pedi. The stroll is estimated to take around 15 minutes, with the route previously being described as a "clear path".
The TV doctor had not returned to the accommodation where he was staying with his wife by 3pm. When she arrived back to the property, she found his phone in the same position he had left it in before he headed out. Dr Bailey alerted the police that he was missing at around 7.30pm and the rescue operation was subsequently launched.
During that day, Dr Mosley was captured on CCTV at the St Nikolas beach restaurant. Grini Kaurmadia, whose family own the establishment, said Dr Mosley used the bathroom at around 1pm on Wednesday. She said: "We can see him go into the bathroom and then leave, we don’t know where he went next. We don’t know how he got here, some people catch the water taxi from Symi. They didn’t eat here so we don’t know how long they were at the beach. We did not speak with him."
Thursday, June 6: Locals spread the word over missing doc as mayor shares doubts that Michael is still in the area
Symi Facebook groups began receiving posts asking for local members to keep an eye out for Dr Mosley. The group "Friends of Symi" appealed for witnesses and described the health expert as a "familiar face for many British people".
By the afternoon, firefighters and the coastguard joined forces with the police leading the search operation. The task force also employed a team of dogs, helicopters, and a thermal imaging drone to scour the area around Pedi. In the evening, the Mayor of Symi said it was "impossible" that Dr Mosley is still in the area. He said: "It is a very small, controlled area, full of people. So, if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now."
Friday, June 7: Extreme weather warnings as divers and patrol boats join in search
On Friday, more weather warning were issued as forecasters stressed that temperatures could reach up to 48C. The search on Friday commenced at 9am, with divers later searching the waters from the afternoon.
Symi’s coast guard said: “All our patrol boats are searching … about five and also all the private boats, commercial boats know about the incident and they look for (him) also, in this area, (so this is) the private, the commercial and the patrol (boats looking).”
A spokesperson for the Greek fire service confirmed that Greek police are using sniffer dogs in the search. Later that day, the first set of CCTV images were released of the doctor walking in Pedi under an umbrella near Blue Corner cafe.
Saturday, June 8: Search resumes with firefighters forced to split up and snake warning issued
6am: This morning, a search co-ordinator confirmed that the search had resumed at around 6am. Firefighters began to examine a 6.5k radius over a mountainous area that is surrounded by sea.
Manolis Tsimpoukas, who arranges searches for missing people on the Dodecanese Islands, said there had been no sign of Dr Mosley. He described the area as "very dangerous" and said if anything was discovered then they would locate the doctor within an hour.
Shortly before 8am: Symi’s mayor Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas said there is "no chance" the search will be called off until he is found. The long-standing mayor described the area where Dr Mosley is believed to have travelled through is “difficult to pass” and is “only rocks”. He sparked further concerns when he said the area is populated by "loads" of snakes.
10.34am: Firefighters released a drone as they hiked up a mountainous area. There is no path or shade near the top of the hill that sits between Pedi bay and Agia Marina, where they suspect he may have walked. It comes after an extreme heat warning was launched in the area.
Shortly before 11am: Individual firefighters were forced to split up as they covered vast expanses of steep rocky terrain on their own. One uniformed worker said there were 10 of them searching multiple summits because it was too dangerous for large crews to work during the summer months. Firefighter Stergos Giakoumakis said: “Because it’s not so easy to bring here 100 people, especially this period, because it’s the most dangerous period. Everything is dry and it is too dangerous for firemen to search.”
Dad-of-four Michael was holidaying with his wife Clare Bailey and pals on the Greek island of Symi when he was reported missing last week. A full-scale search operation was launched but Michael's body was found four days later near a perimeter fence at the Agia Marina beach resort, just 50 yards from safety.
It is thought he decided to take a hike across rocky terrain, got lost and perished from the 40-degree heat. An initial post-mortem exam has been carried out but the official cause of death is yet to be confirmed.
Ambrose said hearing the news left him and Ricardo, 51, feeling "deeply shocked and saddened." But the couple hope the family will take comfort in hearing of the happy times they spent with Michael on set.
He continued: "We would sit in our lounge on filming days and eat lunch together, and one day, we made him and the crew a salad and he proceeded to write down the recipe and WhatsApp it to his wife Clare!
“And we weren’t allowed phones on set but he’d suddenly whip his phone out of his back pocket and ask the producer to take a picture of us all!
"Even after the show finished he would email regularly asking how we were getting on and sent us subscriptions to his Fast 800 plan completely free of charge. We owe Michael a lot and want his wife and children to know that.”