Healthy one day, gone the next’

GMB star Rob Rinder previously revealed his heartbreak after he lost both his dog and his friend in the same week.

The presenter has become a firm favourite with viewers over the years. From stints on the ITV show to The Inheritance – which is on today (September 23) – Rob has had an incredible career.

However, in 2022, Rob was left devastated when his dog Rocco and a dear friend passed away.

He opened up about the heartbreaking time (Credit: ITV)

GMB star Robert Rinder on ‘unexpected’ d3ath

In 2022, GMB presenter Robert was faced with a heartbreaking double blow when his beloved French bulldog and dear friend d!ed.

Writing in the Standard, Rob spoke about his “gorgeous” pup Rocco’s passing. He said:  “He was taken from me totally unexpectedly — healthy one day, gone the next — and I was then, and remain, bereft.”

He went on to recall how initially, when he and his ex-husband got Rocco seven years ago he was “pretty opposed to getting him”. However, it didn’t take Robert long to “fall head-over-heels for him”.

Robert’s heartbreak after dog’s d3ath

What’s more, in a sad turn of events, Rob’s friend Lesley Land – a member of the Gogglebox press team – also passed away in the same week that Rocco d!ed.

“The first person I wanted to speak to when I lost him was my spectacular friend Lesley. She was my first WhatsApp message. Rocco adored clever and stunning women, and she was his absolute icon,” Robert said.

She was the type of spectacular person that you didn’t believe existed any more.

He added: “But Lesley Land, one of my finest friends, had d!ed suddenly at the age of 41. She was the type of spectacular person that you didn’t believe existed any more.”

His dog and friend d!ed within the same week (Credit; ITV)

Robert ‘loved them both very much’

Robert gushed about his pal Lesley, and recalled “cry-laughing” after he looked through their WhatsApp messages after she d!ed.

He then reflected on Rocco and Lesley’s passing. He shared that when someone important d!es “they leave a perpetual handprint of delight on those of us lucky enough to have known them”.

Rob said: “So I’m thinking of Lesley and Rocco and they are not gone. (I’d imagine he’s sitting on her lap, she’s making some impossibly brilliant joke and he’s looking up adoringly). I loved them both very much.”

Watch Rob on the final of The Inheritance tonight (September 23) at 9.15pm.

Read more: Robert Rinder on disastrous dating experience with Fleabag’s Hot Priest: ‘He never spoke to me again’