Dale Winton: 19 things we learned from his extraordinary autobiography. RIP Dale

11.

While on holiday in Marbella, Dale gets a flat tyre at 1am in the morning. Help comes from his pal, the hardman footballer Graeme Souness, who lives nearby.

“He had to walk half a mile to the car to change the wheel, still dressed in his pristine new white Versace shirt… Graeme, you were a true gentleman, a Sir Galahad…”

12.

Dale talks very openly about cosmetic surgery. He had his first nosejob in 1977, aged 22, has several non-surgical facelifts in the 1990s, and then goes under the surgeon’s knife in 2001.

When The Sun’s photographers spot him at a premiere of My Fair Lady, they carry before-and-after pics accompanied by the headline, “Who’s Had A Supermarket Tweak, Dale?”

13.

The opulent design for his West End flat include ancient Roman-themed panels “and a matching wall hanging and throw, featuring my hero Alexander The Great, on my huge Gothic iron bed”

14.

Dale was obsessed with astrology. He mentions the fact that he’s a Gemini 16 times, and constantly judges pals according to star sign.

15.

Dale changed his agents quite frequently. He seems to get through about half a dozen throughout the course of the book.

16.

One notable flop was Touch The Truck, a C5 series which ran for one week in March 2001. “The unfortunate thing about Touch The Truck was that it was screened in the same week as Celebrity Big Brother,” says Dale. “But for this clash, I am sure that it could have continued and become an even bigger success.” Of course it would.

17.

After meeting on the set of the BBC’s Winton’s Wonderland, Jimmy Nail suggests doing a series with him. “You and I should do a TV sitcom together,” says the Geordie hardman. “Something along the lines of The Odd Couple.”

18.

He claims to be a big football fan and Arsenal nut, although he spells Geoff Hurst’s name “Hearst” and appears to think that he’s a cricketer.

19.

He insists on keeping his studios at a low temperature, “because it helps to keep the audience alert, and because I suffer from perspiration on my forehead.”

His friend Martine McCutcheon tells him that record companies always warn singing or dancing guests that, if they’re going to appear on one of Dale’s shows in a skimpy outfit, “they’d better wear plasters on their nipples.”