“With champagne wishes and caviar dreams” was the famous signoff of London born Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous host Robin Leach. Harrow High School educated, this one-time Daily Mail reporter moved to the US in 1963 with $145 in his pocket and after briefly becoming a shoe salesman founded a music publication named Go Magazine.

After selling up “at considerable profit,” Leach worked for The National Star and CNN before coming up with Lifestyles in 1984. He attributed the show’s popularity to Jimmy Carter exiting the White House and boasted: “[It was] because the Reagans brought in an aura of wealth. Jimmy Carter was too ordinary. So, when Reagan came in, it was time for a show about wealth and success… Hear this: In the course of an hour, I deliver twice as much audio information and visual images as any other show on television. I’m fast and loud on purpose. I cram 10 pounds of caviar into an eight-pound pack.”

“Sensational, not scandalous” in his approach, twice married, father of three Leach’s subjects numbered everyone from Celine Dion to Madonna and Adnan Khashoggi and Donald Trump. As a result this celebrant of wealth and capitalism became a millionaire and pretty famous himself and in 2007, in the Fergie song Glamorous featuring Ludacris, the latter rapped: “Lifestyles so rich and famous, Robin Leach’ll get jealous.” With his passing, most certainly, this much parodied “life of the party” has most definitely moved to the skies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrZtqe_zrOw

The Roll Call - OBSERVERS

1

Sharon Hodgson MP

2

Robin Leach (1941 – 2018)

3

Selina Scott

4

Greta van Susteren

5

Serena Cowdy

6

Milo Yiannopoulos (Μίλων Γιαννόπουλος, formerly Milo Wagner)

7

Ann Coulter

8

Jill Dando (1961 – 1999)

9

Dr Andrew Roberts

10

Mrs MILF

11

The Tout

12

Catherine Mayer

13

Panagiotis “Taki” Theodoracopulos