Benidorm star Tony Maudsley 'devastated' at sudden death of colleague

Tony Maudsley has been left "devastated" at the sudden death of his colleague.

The 55-year-old actor played hairdresser Kenneth Du Beke on the ITV1 sitcom 'Benidorm' and took to social media on Monday (09.01.24) to run a campaign to raise awareness of his missing friend Michael McGarrigle - who had worked as a costume supervisor on the series - before revealing the following day that his friend had passed away.

Alongside a picture of himself and Michael, he wrote on Instagram: "Thank you so much to everyone for all your efforts in reposting our appeal to find Michael yesterday. I'm so sad to say that we found out late last night that we've lost our beautiful friend. Our whole Benidorm family is devastated and we'll miss him hugely. RIP Michael. "

Tony - who now plays George Shuttleworth in the ITV1 soap opera 'Coronation Street' - was comforted by a number of famous faces in the comments section of his post.

Samia - who has played the role of Maria Connor on 'Corrie' since 2000 - wrote: "So sorry to hear this Tony", whilst former 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' star Andy Whyment, known for his role as Samia's on-screen brother Kirk Sutherland on the soap, said: "Sorry to hear this Tony."

Musical theatre star Hayley Tammadon - who played Andrea Beckett on 'Coronation Street' in the years prior to Tony's arrival on the show - said: "I’m so so sorry Tony."

Julie Graham - who played Sheron Dawson in 'Benidorm' - simply posted a broken heart emoji, as did 'Absolutely Fabulous' star Harriet Thorpe.

On Monday, Tony explained to his followers that Michael had gone missing and his loved ones were all "concerned" for his safety.

He wrote: "This is our friend Michael McGarrigle. Michael is a valued member of our Benidorm family having worked on the show as our costume supervisor for many years. He has been missing for several days, last seen in the early hours of Sunday morning in the Glasgow area."

'We, his friends and family are extremely concerned for his safety and would appeal to anyone who may have seen him in the last 48 hours to contact Glasgow Police.'

Throughout his career in television, Michael had also worked on other hit shows like 'Shameless', and 'DCI Banks' and most recently worked on the acclaimed BBC One prison drama 'Time'.