Stars of the comedy world have paid tribute to comedian Sean Hughes, who has died aged 51.
A representative for Hughes confirmed he died on Monday October 16 in hospital. It is understood he had been suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.
Comics including Jason Manford, Omid Djalili, Jack Dee and Sarah Millican have shared their tributes for the award-winning comedian and former Never Mind The Buzzcocks panellist following the news of his death.
Manford wrote: “Very sad to hear about Sean Hughes. A brilliant comic and a lovely bloke. RIP.”
Djalili said: “Deeply saddened to hear Sean Hughes died this morning aged 51. Very talented comic, loved & respected. Will miss u dearly my friend.”
Dee said he was “very sad” to hear of the news of Hughes’s death.
He added: “Started on the circuit with him back in the day. RIP.”
Millican praised Hughes as a “very funny man”, and said that “he was the first comic I ever saw live”.
Irish comedian Dara O Briain said: “Ah, that is very sad news. That’s no age. One of the Irish comedy trailblazers in the UK.”
Al Murray wrote: “Terribly sad news about Sean Hughes.”
Julian Clary said that Hughes was “a charming man indeed”, and Aisling Bea said he was “a wonderfully silly, anarchic & hilarious comic”.
Bea added: “I always enjoyed the mad tangents our conversations would take.”
Ross Noble said: “Just awful news about Sean Hughes. He was very nice to me when I was starting out in comedy. A sad loss.”
Jenny Eclair commented on the “very sad” news of Hughes’s death, and actor and comedian David Schneider described Hughes as “an engagingly funny man”.
Actress and model Gail Porter said she was “so so sad to hear about Sean Hughes”.
She added: “Worked with him many times and he was so incredibly funny.”
“So sad to hear Sean has gone,” Marcus Brigstocke tweeted.
“He was often rude to me and I found him very funny. I loved Sean’s Show as a teenager.”
Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh said he was “lucky to enjoy his company on a few occasions over the years” and said that Hughes was “a witty, gracious, kind and gentle soul”.
X Factor presenter Dermot O’Leary said that Hughes was a “genuinely lovely, clever man” and that he was “great company and a brilliant beautiful mind”.
London-born Irish comedian Hughes was best known for being a panellist on BBC Two show Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and for writing and starring in his own sitcom Sean’s Show in the early 1990s.
In 1990, Hughes was 24 when he became the youngest winner of the main prize at the Perrier Comedy Awards, now known as the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, for his stand-up show A One Night Stand With Sean Hughes.
Nica Burns, the director of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said: “He was a huge talent, a really good comic, instinctive timing from day one and a very good writer. He will be missed.”
He also appeared in TV programmes including Coronation Street and The Last Detective, and in Alan Parker’s film The Commitments in 1991.
He returned to Edinburgh in 2007 after a seven-year break with his show the Right Side Of Wrong.
In 2015, Hughes joined the cast of the Olivier Award-winning production of The Railway Children.
Away from the stage and screen, Hughes was also a writer and had penned two collections of prose and poetry, including Sean’s Book.
He wrote best-selling novels The Detainees and It’s What He Would Have Wanted.
The news of Hughes’s death comes just over a week after he posted his final tweet on October 8, in which he told his followers he was in hospital.
Hughes is survived by his two brothers, Alan and Martin.