Gogglebox star George Gilbey’s funeral will take place later this month after fans stepped in to help his grieving family cover the costs.
The television personality, who died aged 40, fell 80ft to his death after tumbling through a skylight while working on a warehouse roof in Southend-On-Sea, Essex.
The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate plummeted from the roof of EGL Homecare in Shoeburyness and was not wearing a harness.
It was reported this week that his family were struggling to cover the costs of his funeral and a GoFundMe page had been set up with a target of £5,000.
On Friday night they had exceeded the target, reaching almost £6,400 at the time, with his mother, co-star Linda McGarry, 74, being able to set a funeral date.
Gogglebox star George Gilbey’s funeral will take place later this month after fans stepped in to help his grieving family cover the costs
George (centre) appeared on hit TV show Gogglebox alongside his mother Linda McGarry (left) and his late stepfather Pete (right), who died of cancer in 2021
The funeral will take place at the end of April and George will be buried close to his home in Clacton, Essex.
Any money left over from the donations will go towards raising George’s daughter Amelie, seven.
A source told The Sun: ‘Linda did not expect to have to be burying her son.
‘She’s been really buoyed by the fact people have donated so much.
‘It will help give George the send-off he deserves.’
Two days ago, donations were at £3,240 after family friend Rob Barlow put the GoFundMe appeal online to help cover the costs.
George appeared on the hit TV show alongside his mother Linda McGarry and stepfather Pete.
His sudden death comes less than three years after his step-father Pete McGarry died from bowel cancer aged 71.
After his family struggled to meet funeral costs, a GoFundMe page had been set up with a target of £5,000, with fans donating almost £6,400 by Friday evening
Police confirmed that George fell and sustained an injury at around 10am on March 27.
Despite ambulance crews and air ambulances rushing to the scene, he did not survive.
Friends revealed that George scaled the roof of the building without a harness and as his workmates begged him to come down, he fell 80ft through a skylight and landed on the concrete.
One friend told The Sun: ‘George had not been in a good way and maybe should not have been working at all. He was up on the roof and the others were shouting at him to get down and to be careful.
‘He was shouting back that he was all right, even though he was not very steady on his feet.
‘Then, he apparently came through a skylight so fell from the outside of the roof about 80ft on to concrete inside.’
The pal added that George ‘did not stand a chance’.
Essex Police revealed on March 28 that a man – understood to be a colleague – was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
The former Celebrity Big Brother star fall from the roof of EGL Homecare in Shoeburyness and was not wearing a harness
Police confirmed that George fell and sustained an injury at around 10am on March 27. Despite ambulance crews and air ambulances rushing to the scene, he did not survive
A spokesman for Essex Police said: ‘As part of our ongoing investigation into the death of a man in Campfield Road, Shoebury on Wednesday 27 March, we have arrested a man in their 40s from the Witham area on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
‘This is a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive and our enquiries are ongoing.’
The family left Gogglebox in 2014 when George entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on rival Channel 5 – which was deemed a rule breaker by producers – but they delighted viewers when they returned to the sofa two years later.
George, who had a daughter called Amelie with Gemma Conway in 2016, was part of the fourteenth series of Celebrity Big Brother and even reached the final.
George’s heartbroken relative Sabrina Browning has since shared a tributes to her older brother with Instagram followers.
‘My heart is in absolute pieces,’ she wrote on Thursday. ‘You will be missed so much, no words can explain the kind and gentle heart you showed to all you loved and cared for, thank you for everything, rest in eternal paradise brother.’
Browning also shared a series of photos, among them an image of Gilbey holding one of the two TV BAFTA Awards won by Gogglebox after being named Best Reality and Constructed Factual show in 2014 and 2022.
Days before his death, George had posted a beaming selfie on Facebook in which he shared that he had purchased a gym membership. He captioned the photo of him sweating alongside another picture of a gym card: ‘Done. Full membership.’
Channel 4 led the tributes last month, describing George as ‘part of the Gogglebox family’ (pictured with his mother and Gogglebox co-star Linda McGarry)
George pictured with his ex-partner Gemma Conway, with whom he shares a seven-year-old daughter
Channel 4 led the tributes last month, describing George as ‘part of the Gogglebox family’.
Meanwhile fellow TV personality Ricci Guarnaccio, who entered the Big Brother house the same year, wrote: ‘Breaks my heart but George Gilbey you are well and truly going to be missed my friend.
‘Always lit up the room, cared for others & the memories we made I’ll cherish for ever brother. From CBB to speaking to you last week, I’m going to hugely miss you ma boiii! Love you GG.’
Ricci, who also starred on Geordie Shore, said that George’s death came as a result of an ‘accident at work’.
