Blue Peter icon Christopher Trace sadly died penniless despite working for nine year years on the famous BBC children’s programme. Kick starting his presenting career at 25-years-old in 1958, Trace was the male presenter who launched the very first episode of the show alongside co-host Leila Williams.
From there on, his TV career catapulted as he landed a regular presenting role on BBC Schools programme Signpost in 1961 and kept his job there for four years. Before his Blue Peter stint, Trace even had an acting career, starring in titles such as 1959 film The Hound of the Baskervilles and 1960’s Urge to Kill.
Sadly things didn’t work out well for the talented star in the end. By 1967, Blue Peter executives were keen to replace him on the show, claiming that he was difficult to work with on-set.
Things went from bad to worse for him when his wife Margaret Cattrall filed for divorce after Trace cheated on her with a 19-year-old during a Blue Peter trip to Norway.
Christopher and his wife Meg shared two children together, Jonathan and Jessica.
Trace made his Blue Peter exit in 1967 and took a risk on a new business venture as a writer and production manager at a feature film company but the job failed and ultimately cost him his life savings.
Trace was declared bankrupt in 1973, two years after marrying Prudence Da and ended up pulling pints behind a bar in Norwich and working as a taxi driver instead to make ends meet.
He eventually managed to get his TV career back on track by working for BBC’s Nationwide, presenting regional programmes in East Anglia and the breakfast radio show on BBC Norwich and also made a brief return to Blue Peter for its 20th anniversary in 1978.
One insider said at the time: “I remember him being strong on screen on BBC East.
“He was only there as his wife had kicked him out, he’d lost all his money and was drinking and eventually he went off to run a pub in Norwich.”
After he retired from his media career, he tried his hand at a number of other careers including a position as a general manager at an engineering factory, where he tragically lost two toes in a workplace accident and subsequently could no longer work.
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The TV personality sadly passed away at the age of 59 in 1992 after a five year battle with oesophageal cancer.
At the time of his passing, he lived in Walthamstow and was relying solely on benefits.
He received visits from fellow broadcasters Valerie Singleton and Biddy Baxter during his final days in hospital.
