Colin Corrigan dead: Castaway icon who became one of the first reality TV stars dies aged 70
REALITY TV trailblazer Colin Corrigan has died aged 70.
Colin was one of the first genre stars, appearing on the hit BBC 2000 show Castaway.
It followed 36 adults and eight children who were picked to live on a remote Scottish island for a year, attracting huge audiences of over seven million.
Colin moved to Taransay in the Outer Hebrides with wife Julia and their seven-year-old daughter Natasha and was one of the show’s most popular characters.
The mischievous butcher made a name for himself on the show after outsmarting producers by convincing local fishermen to deliver contraband including cigarettes and wine to the island.
His wife Julia said Colin died last Sunday (March 24) around three weeks after a serious stroke.
He leaves behind four children – Ricky, 45, Andy, 43, Douglas, 38, and Natasha, now 31, as well as five grandchildren.
Julia told The Sun they never stopped talking about the amazing experience they had on the island – and admitted they would happily have stayed there forever.
After the show the couple, who were born in London, chose to carry on living off-grid in Marros, Wales, but after six years left for the Essex countryside to be closer to family.
The couple have welcomed five grandchildren and retired – Julia from teaching and Colin from jobs including running a fish and chip shop and teaching at a local college.
Paying tribute to Colin, Julia said: “Colin had a brilliant sense of humour.
“He was always joking and laughing. He was incredibly compassionate with people.
“He loved animals and he loved his dogs.
“He was just one of those very kind, friendly and jokey people.
“We were so close.
“We spent 24 hours a day together every day, talking and laughing.
“Everyone he met he made friends with immediately.
“People took to him so quickly.
“He was like a magnet to people.
“He made friends everywhere he went.
“On the island he was one of the most popular people there.
“He was a go-to person if people wanted cigarettes or sausages, he was a rebel.
“He was a great person and we are going to miss him so much.”
Julia said Colin was the driving force for applying to the show – and she was stunned when their family was selected from thousands of applications.
People took to him so quickly. He was like a magnet to people. He made friends everywhere he went
Wife Julia
She said producers were looking for a butcher to be part of the island’s population and Colin had learned the trade at a young age from his father while growing up in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
“It was all about living off grid and doing everything the old way, that really appealed to him”, she said.
“His childhood was spent outdoors.
“He was a really outdoors man so the island offered a way back into the old way of life for him.
“He absolutely loved that.
“We loved the lifestyle, I can’t even explain how much we loved it.”
She added: “Coming home after the show was hard.
“It was the end of something really great.
“I have been watching a lot of the old episodes on Youtube recently.
“It was an exciting experience.”
Tragically, he has narrowly missed out on a planned 25th anniversary reunion of the show’s cast, when they plan to open a time capsule Colin buried on his beloved island.
We are all absolutely gutted to have lost him so soon but luckily we have brilliant memories to keep us going until we all get to meet again
Ron Copsey
But before his death Colin requested some of his ashes be spread on Taransay.
Fellow Castaway member Ron Copsey told The Sun: “I loved Colin like a brother.
“We enjoyed gambling, playing cards, shared a love of Whippets, having a joke or two and usually spent Christmas together with his family.
“We are all absolutely gutted to have lost him so soon but luckily we have brilliant memories to keep us going until we all get to meet again.”
Ron said he will never forget when his dog Charlie died on the island and Colin made him a wooden coffin.
He added: “My experience on Castaway was totally enhanced by Colin, Julie and Tasha.
“We lived in the same Pod, 24/7, week in/week out and got on famously.
“He was a great comfort to me at the really tragic time.
“He knew that losing Charlie was like losing a child for me.
“Colin had a heart of gold.
“Col has left a huge gap in our lives but I’m sure he’s already planning the upstairs party for when we all eventually join him.”