Another tale of thirsty News at Ten anchor Reginald Bosanquet reaches Axegrinder.
Ski journalist Arnie Wilson recalls the night Reggie gave him a wonderful scoop. Wilson explains: ‘I’d worked with him at ITN, and got to know him better at Anglia TV, where I produced a political programme called Probe (known to us all as a Grope).
Reggie and I would travel up to Norwich by train together, and we chatted about his alcoholic image. He would always insist that he needed one drink to perform better on air, but admitted two was too many.
‘One night when I was doing a casual shift on the Daily Express, he rang me and said he was burgling his first wife’s London apartment to get back some furniture he regarded as his. I could run the story, he said, as long as I didn’t reveal my source or quote him!
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‘Well, you can imagine the Daily Express lawyers were a bit jittery about this but they finally accepted that Reggie was a mate and the source. It made a front-page exclusive.
‘Sadly, some years later I wrote the front page piece at The Daily Mirror (during another shift) when Reggie died. He’s much missed.”
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