Bill Turnbull's loved-ones and BBC co-stars gathered today to lay the beloved BBC Breakfast host to rest.
The presenter, who appeared on the show from 2001 until 2016, died earlier this month aged 66 after a "challenging" five year fight with prostate cancer.
Susanna Reid, 51, and Sian Williams, 57, joined Charlie Stayt, Naga Munchetty and Bill's loved-ones at Holy Trinity church in Blythburgh, Suffolk, on Friday afternoon for the intimate ceremony.
Bill's two sons Henry, 33, and Will, 32, and son-in-law were among the six pallbearers carrying his oak coffin, adorned with a red rose and purple bouquet, into the church.
Sian, who anchored BBC Breakfast with Bill for more than a decade, told the PA news agency: "I think it is a day of sadness and reflection, and I hope sometime today there will also be time to celebrate his life because he was a great friend and a great man.
"And he has so many different connections to so many different people who cherish him that I hope we can have that time together where we can share those memories.
"I wish he were able to understand how much he was valued, and I think it is incredible the number of people here who just wanted to come and celebrate and pay their respects to him.
"Bill made a lot of friends and he was a very loyal friend and he was great to work with as a professional, but when you’re sitting alongside someone like that there is a lot of trust that goes with that.
"I think the reason that so many people have turned out today to pay their respects – to think about him and share memories of him and to celebrate him – is because he was a good man.
"He was a great bloke, he was great to work with, he was a great friend and you see that here with the number of people who wanted to express that."
The presenter said she will remember Bill "with a smile".
Other famous names to attend include Martha Kearney, Mike Bushell, Louise Minchin, Charlotte Hawkins and Nick Robinson.
BBC Breakfast presenter Naga, who shared the red sofa with Bill for several years, said: "Bill was the grammar hammer; he was so on top of his grammar plurals, singulars… He was all over it.
"He was passionate about the job and passionate about the journalism and passionate about the audience.
"The audience was all that mattered and all that does matter and Bill never forgot that – he was a joy to sit beside.
"To sit next to Bill was always an experience, it was always fun, it was always focused but it was also about the audience.
"It was telling the story, being part of the story, which is always a privilege, and hearing people’s experiences and helping to relay those to our audience.
"It was the audience – that’s what Bill was about."
Bill's heartbroken wife Sarah, known as Sesi, released a statement read out on BBC Breakfast on September 1st paying tribute to Bill as they announced he had passed away peacefully at his home in Suffolk.
An emotional Naga Munchetty read: "Our lovely Billy died yesterday evening. Almost five years after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.
"The last week of his life was very special as the whole family was with him and they shared some wonderful moments.
"Although Bill was often in pain, he was dignified and brave throughout and he was his usual determined self right until the very end. He made us laugh everyday. We are immensely proud of him. He was the heart of our family. It's hard to imagine life without him."
Bill is survived by his wife Sarah and three children sons Henry and Will and daughter Flora, 31.
