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Lynda Bellingham's Oxo advert to return to TV on Christmas day

OXO will also make a donation to Action Against Cancer, one of the charities supported by Lynda, as well as broadcasting the 1984 campaign

Jenn Selby
Tuesday 11 November 2014 11:17 EST
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Bellingham in rehearsal for an Oxo commercial: one could not help but be wooed by her ability to get such depth from gravy granules
Bellingham in rehearsal for an Oxo commercial: one could not help but be wooed by her ability to get such depth from gravy granules (PA)

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Lynda Bellingham will make a posthumous TV come back on Christmas day, it has been announced.

Her famous Oxo advert will be broadcast on 25 December in tribute to the late actress, who died of cancer last month, “during the commercial break of a major primetime show”.

“The My Christmas Oxo advert from 1984, starring much-loved actress Lynda Bellingham, will be re-screened on Christmas Day in memory of her life and career,” a spokesperson from Premier Foods, which owns Oxo, said.

“Over the past few weeks, hundreds of thousands of Lynda's fans have rallied behind a call for the return of the ad as a fitting tribute for all the inspiring things she achieved during her career.

“To honour the sad loss of such a fabulous actress, organisations and individuals involved in the creation and production of this initiative have given freely of their time.

“Premier Foods will make a donation to Action Against Cancer, one of the charities supported by Lynda, in line with the wishes of her family.”

The news, revealed on Loose Women earlier today, comes after tireless Facebook campaigns got underway to re-instate the advert.

The aim of the campaign was to allow Bellingham her dying wish of spending one, last Christmas with her family – and the nation.

“Well I've succumbed to not cooking [Christmas dinner]. I thought poor Michael, you can't put him through that again,” she said, outlining her Christmas plans in her final interview on Loose Women in October.

“So we're going to go to the hotel and have the meal but just for a little bit of control we're going to open home for pudding and presents.”

Bellingham had been fighting colon cancer since July 2013 and announced in October that she was planning on ending her chemotherapy.

“I don't want the boys or my husband to see me die a little sad old lady. I want to go out there as I am.”

Pattermore said that he wants his late wife to be remembered, above all, as an actress.

“I just want her to be remembered as an actress more than anything - not as a celebrity or one of the Loose Women,” he said.

“She started her career as an actress and never thought of herself as a celebrity. She's always been an actress.”

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