Comedian Janey Godley has died at the age of 63.
The star died in hospital “surrounded by her loved ones”, her management has confirmed. In a statement, her manager Chris Davis said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our client Doctor Janey Godley on 2nd November.
“Janey died peacefully in the wonderful Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow surrounded by her loved ones. She will be hugely missed by her family, friends and her many fans. She will be remembered for her legendary voiceovers of Nicola Sturgeon during the pandemic, her hilarious and outspoken comedy, but most of all for just being ‘Janey’.”
Godley revealed in September she had been receiving palliative care in a hospice.
The beloved Scottish comic posted a video of her in a hospice to social media, almost three years after she first announced she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
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Redferns)Following the statement, Janey's daughter Ashley Storrie - who has been a voice for her mum in her final weeks - took to social to pay a heartfelt tribute.
Speaking in a black and white video message, she said: "My mum Jane godly died this morning about seven. She was with friends and family and I wanted to tell you face to face because it felt very much what she would have wanted.
“She went peacefully. And I want to say a big thank you to all the staff at the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice. And a big thank you to mum’s found family who were around her throughout these last horrible days.
She went on: "Thank you for all being there and for making a very scary moment peaceful and a nice transition.
"And I want to thank all of you for your kindness and support, I know in my heart she felt every bit of love that you sent to her and I think we got her longer because of all the love and support and love in the world.
"But that’s it . It’s over now. Thanks once again. Bye mama and Frank get the door.”
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X/ @JaneyGodley)Janey initially shared her ovarian cancer diagnosis in November 2021, and a year later, she took to Twitter (X) to reveal the wonderful news that she had been given the all-clear, with "no evidence of disease". However, a subsequent scan showed signs of cancer in her abdomen. Despite this setback, she was determined to press on with her tour scheduled for February and March 2023.
In an interview with ITV's Lorraine Kelly, Janey recalled a conversation with her colleague Jimmy Carr, who encouraged her not to give up on touring. She shared: "I decided to cancel the tour, and my mate Jimmy Carr said, 'Is your mouth not working? '. I went, 'Yeah, my mouth works' and he said, 'Well get back on tour'."
In September this year, Janey cancelled her tour while giving a sad update on her incurable cancer. The late star had been due to embark on the Why Is She Still Here? tour, which included dates across UK cities including London, Belfast and Edinburgh, before doctors advised her that she should stop working "for the foreseeable future".
On Wednesday 25 September, Janey told fans on social media that she was receiving end-of-life treatment and currently residing in a hospice. Speaking in a moving video, the writer from Glasgow explained: "The chemo ran out of options, and I couldn’t take anymore of it. The cancer has spread, so it looks like this will be getting to near the end of it, and it’s really difficult to speak about this and say it to people."
"It is devastating news, to know that I’m facing end of life but we all come to an end some time," Janey added. "I don’t know how long I’ve got left before anybody asks, I’m not a tick tock, I just want you all to know that I appreciate all the love you’ve gave me. Cancer affects one in two people and it’s affected me." Janey concluded the video by sending love and support to people living with a "life-limiting disease" before confirming it was why she had to cancel the tour.
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Alamy/PA)Image:
Twitter)Following Janey's heartbreaking announcement the comic's daughter shared a touching message to her own fans as she revealed how she would be respecting her mother's dying wishes. Ashley Storrie, also a comedian and daughter to Janey and her husband Sean Storrie, took to social media to inform followers that she "wouldn't be sitting a vigil" at her mother's bedside, stating it isn't what her mother desired. She implored her fans to "have a bit of compassion" and understand "not everyone processes" things in the same way.
Visibly moved and occasionally fighting back tears, Ashley began, "Hello friends," before revealing the sombre news: "As you might have seen, Mum has entered her end-of-life care - the cancer has spread and she is no longer responding to chemotherapy. It's really sad."
Ashley continued with a brave face, saying, "I'm going to keep living my life and I'm going to keep working, because that's what Mum's asked me to do, and that's what I'm going to do because I want to show her before she leaves that I'm going to be okay because I know that's the thing she's worried about the most."
She further added, "I wont be sitting a vigil by her bedside crying because she doesn't want me to and I'm going to respect her wishes. I love my mum and every weird and uncomfortable and unusual facets of her. I'm going to respect her wishes in this time. I only have one favour to ask of yous and it's to have a bit of compassion and recognise not everyone processes things the same as you do. I have got an autistic brain but I'm very grateful for all your love and support, so thank you."
On Thursday 31 October, Ashley shared that her mother was in the "final beats of her life". In a post on the 63-year-old’s X account, BBC Radio Scotland presenter Ashley revealed that her mother had been awarded an honorary degree from the University Of Glasgow, which she said had "brought her so much joy" in her final days.
Janey had been tweeting regularly since she announced she was receiving end-of-life care after her terminal cancer spread, but appeared to have not tweeted for five days before her daughter’s post. The post read: "Thank you @UofGlasgow for bestowing upon my mum the honorary degree of doctor of the University of Glasgow. This has brought her so much joy in the final beats of her life. Janey is so honoured and I am so immensely proud of her. Congratulations doctor Godley."
She is survived by her daughter, comedian Storrie, and her husband Sean Storrie, who she married in 1980.
Born on January 20 1961 as the youngest of four children, Godley was raised in Shettleston in the East End of the city, and attended Eastbank Academy. She left school aged 16 with no qualifications, but went on to become a highly renowned comedian, first starting her career in the business in 1994.
Godley performed stand-up around the world, including in New York and New Zealand, and was a regular co-presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends, as well as fronting BBC Radio 4 series The C Bomb.
Having regularly performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, she won the Fringe Report Award after being crowned best performer at the 2008 festival.
Godley found viral fame with her dubbed pastiches of then-Scotland first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s coronavirus news briefings during the pandemic, but her career has not been without controversy.
After offensive tweets by her came to light following an investigation by the Daily Beast website, the Scottish Government coronavirus adverts she featured in were pulled. Godley profusely apologised for the tweets and donated the fee she was paid (£12,000) to charity.
She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2021 but later returned to touring and told how comedian Jimmy Carr encouraged her to continue performing despite her diagnosis.
In a March 2024 episode of ITV’s Lorraine, Godley said: “The year before last, before I got into the tour, I was told that the cancer had come back. So, I decided to cancel the tour, and my mate Jimmy Carr said, ‘Is your mouth not working?’ I went, ‘Yeah, my mouth works’ and he said, ‘Well get back on tour.’
“And I thought, he’s right. What am I going to do? Sit in the house and draw wee cats?” She added: “I have so much on that I keep forgetting that I have a terminal diagnosis.”
Her daughter BBC Radio Scotland presenter Ashley Storrie confirmed in October that Godley was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University Of Glasgow, something she said had “brought her so much joy in the final beats of her life”.
Godley was also a playwright, blogger and author and once had a column in The Scotsman newspaper. One of her influences was Sir Billy Connolly, a fellow, highly successful, Scottish comedian.
In a memoir published in 2024 titled Janey: The Woman That Won’t Shut Up, she recalled meeting Sir Billy. Godley said: “Billy and I chatted for over an hour. I managed to calm down, and tried hard not to gabble and talk utter sh*te. He has a way of putting you at ease – he is such a warm, genuinely lovely man.”
When considering Sir Billy’s influence, she recalled watching TV in her childhood. “It was all Monty Python,” she says of the famous comedy team, adding: “And it was all men dressed as women. I never saw anybody that sounded like me. So I didn’t think comedy was for people like me.
“And then this man with long hair, and big wide flares of all many colours and platforms and not wearing a suit and telling a joke… I remember coming to the TV and going somebody sounds like me. And that just changed my life.”
In 2023 the comedian became the winner of the inaugural Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Godley appeared in a number of TV shows, including River City and Have I Got News For You, and in the film Wild Rose.
In 2020, she wrote and starred in a number of short films titled Alone about a woman whose abusive husband had recently died of coronavirus.
Godley recently said she had accomplished everything she had ever wanted in life, stating in her 2024 memoir: “People keep asking me have you got a bucket list… there isn’t anything I haven’t done.
“I don’t want to jump out of a f****** helicopter or climb a mountain… I’ve done everything I want to do.”
Her death was announced by her management company Chris Davis Management on Saturday, November 2, who said she would be “hugely missed by her family, friends and her many fans”.
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