BBC star Hugh Wallace has died aged 68, his husband has confirmed.
The TV presenter and Dublin architect was best known for presenting a range of property programmes, including Irish broadcaster RTÉ’s Home of the Year as a long-standing judge and BBC series The Great House Revival.
In a post on Wallace’s Instagram account, his husband Martin Corbett, wrote: ‘It is with deep sadness and shock that I share the news that my beloved husband and soulmate, Hugh Wallace, passed away at home last night. I am heartbroken.’
No cause of death has been revealed.
The late media personality was also a founding partner of architectural firm Douglas Wallace Consultants.
A statement on the website said: ‘It is with deep sadness and shock that we share the news that our beloved Hugh Wallace. We are heartbroken.
‘His passion, creativity and warmth touched colleagues, audiences, and friends across the country.’
His five-season-long BBC series, which last came out over the summer, follows homeowners ‘revamping and reviving derelict properties’ in a bid to save a ‘piece of Ireland’s architectural past’.
Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said he was ‘deeply saddened’.
He added that Wallace’s ‘advocacy for good architecture, coupled with his wonderful communication skills, performed a wonderful public service.’
Tánaiste (Irish Deputy Prime Minister) Simon Harris praised his ‘larger than life’ personality’, saying his ‘booming voice made such an important contribution to Irish life by providing entertaining programmes but also in teaching us the importance of restoration and architecture.’
RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst called him ‘a hugely popular figure with audiences and across the industry’.
He praised that he ‘not only opened the door to the most extraordinary homes in Ireland, but he also inspired viewers to engage with the vast possibilities of innovative design.’
Interior designer Sarah Cosgrove, who worked closely with Wallace on Home of the Year, shared: ‘It’s just devastating. He was so full of life. I think that was the energy that Hugh brought to everything he did.
‘He was an incredible person and an incredible husband to Martin. I met him a few weeks ago and it was just craic, that is what you were always guaranteed.’
Tributes are also coming in across social media from those impacted by his work.
‘Sorry to hear of Hugh Wallace’s passing. A very good man. Condolences to Martin and family,’ Denis McDonald wrote on X.
‘He will be a big loss to those industries and may he rest in peace,’ Irish Art Gallery Kinsale shared.
‘I never met Hugh Wallace but I absolutely loved everything he did on TV,’ Fran De Cal said.
‘Hugh Wallace became a warm, familiar and enthusiastic face on Irish television over the past decade. His loss is as sad as it is unexpected,’ Dermot Keyes added.
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