Former BBC Radio Leicester & Nottingham Editor Sophie Shardlow dies

Former BBC Radio Leicester & Nottingham’s Sophie Shardlow has died following an illness.

Sophie was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer (which later developed to stage 4) in March 2020 at the age of 54. After surgery and chemotherapy, she was unable to work.

The BBC’s Head of the Midlands, Stuart Thomas tweeted this afternoon: “So very sad that our friend and colleague Sophie Shardlow has died.

“From working on Dennis McCarthy’s afternoon radio programme to running our stations in Nottingham and Leicester – she was a brilliant radio producer and a fantastic manager who was loved by all.”

In a statement to RadioToday, Stuart added: “Our thoughts and condolences are with Sophie’s family and friends at this very sad time. Sophie was a force of nature.

“She led teams in BBC Radio Nottingham and BBC Radio Leicester with brilliant ideas and incredible humanity.

“From “Sophie behind the glass” with Dennis McCarthy to running her own radio stations – she always made sure our audiences got the best possible radio. She will be greatly missed by all.”

You can read Sophie’s journey, in her own words, on the Bowel Cancer UK website.

So very sad that our friend and colleague Sophie Shardlow has died.

From working on Dennis McCarthy’s afternoon radio programme to running our stations in Nottingham and Leicester – she was was a brilliant radio producer and a fantastic manager who was loved by all. pic.twitter.com/pszdPsEOUi

— Stuart Thomas (@stuartthomas) March 29, 2023